How do you grab the attention of viewers and get important safety information across in a mere thirty second spot?
That was the task South Dakota’s Office of Public Safety faced when they came up with ‘Driving Proper 101 Staying the Course.’ ‘Don’t Jerk and Drive.’ Good advice, by the way. The tongue-in-cheek spot is a much needed PSA which warns drivers of the dangers of over correcting (or jerking the wheel), and demonstrates the proper procedure for regaining control of the vehicle in winter weather.
The original intention was to throw in the double entendre “don’t jerk and drive” to make the message memorable.
Unfortunately many people went ‘full Beavis and Butthead’ focusing on the word ‘jerk’ – while others let their inner prude take charge. Among the latter was state Rep. Mike Verchio, guardian of morals, who planned to ask the department what it was thinking before the TV commercials and social media promotions were yanked.
So many vocal people just couldn’t get a grip on the slightly naughty ad, that the Secretary of Public Safety Trever Jones had to pull it, saying: “This is an important safety message and I don’t want this innuendo to distract from our goal to save lives on the road.”
The ad may be gone, but there may be a happy ending for the ad after all. The controversy has gone nation-wide. Perhaps more people will get the message than it was originally intended to reach .