IT COST peanuts to make and was shot in just two days yet a British road safety advert is being hailed as one of the greatest ever.
The tear-jerking seat belt ad is called Embrace Life and has become a global Internet sensation, with six million YouTube hits in just three months.
MAde for the Sussex Safer Roads Partnership (SS RP), it has proved so effective that organisations from 129countries, including American traffic police, major companies, the United Nations and European schools, are buying the clip to promote road safety.
Neil Hopkins of SS RP which raised the ads $47,000 budget from local police forces and fire brigades said: From a really small start its become a global monster. Its smashed all our {expectations. Were handling licensing requests from state troopers in the US, big firms like Shell, talk shows, the French government, schools and road safety organisations.
The slow-motion, 60-second ad shows a dad miming what happens in a car accident, before his wife and daughter throw their arms around him like a seat belt to save his life.
The little girl is played by unknown10-year-old Clare Denning. Spanish actress Lara Corrochano and jobbing Brit actor Austin Spangler play her mum and dad.
After the ad was shot, poignant piano music by Dutch composer Sid Barnhoorn was added. The clip has now been screened in some cinemas.
Producer Sarah Alexander said: Touching peoples emotions is incredibly difficult and we were not sure how people would react.
The first time I saw it in a cinema, it was with an audience of hardened police officers who were touched so we realized we had succeeded.
The advert, now the fifth-rated video on YouTube, has already been shortlisted for several awards.Writer/director Daniel Cox said: We didn't want to take the {conventional route to shock and scare the audience.
We wanted a film that could be seen and understood by all, whoever or wherever they are.
The millions the ad is expected to make in licensing fees will be ploughed into road safety schemes in Sussex.
2 comments:
I learned the seat belt lesson the hard way. When I was 16 I totalled my dad's truck - breaking the dashboard and steering wheel with my face. I didn't have my seat belt on then but I sure do wear it now.
Oh wow... what a rough lesson to learn. (So glad you made it through alive though)
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