Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Better late than dead...


I just found out about this clever ad campaign they run ad the moment around the city town hall. They show shadows of people - to let us think that they died - with a message like "Philippe, 42, was late. He drove his scooter too fast". That's all. The "caption" says that there has been 64 lethal traffic accidents last year and 7 000 wounded. I may keep taking the metro after all! Talking about death I came across this dreadful site today.

38 comments:

  1. Yikes, no thank you on the death-clock site! Wow, just goes to show just about anything goes on the Internet, doesn't it! :)

    As to the ad campaign, I agree with you, it's very clever, and it probably makes you think twice before accelerating (for a quarter of a second, perhaps? ;)

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  2. No thanks to the dreadful site! lol oh no no no. This is a good campaign Eric. I try to remember the phrase which was told to me many years ago - Better to lose a minute of your life, than to lose your life in a minute.

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  3. Clever ad campaign! I've been enjoying your blog daily. Thank you.

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  4. Ooh! Forget about this deathclock thing ok, you're much too young to waist your time with that.

    And Eric, promisse that if you ever get a motorcycle again you'll be careful, pleaseee?!!!

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  5. Do they have a law there about using your cell phone while you're driving?
    That's a great pain in the bumper here in the US.

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  6. Eric, please be very careful when you ride your motorcycle. The metro isn't that bad, now is it?

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  7. Eric, Congrats on 2 years of PDP. Looks like if you stay optimistic we'll see many more!

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  8. Hello from New Delhi, India where I guarantee you that this advertisement would be considered a joke!

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  9. On a lighter note---I left a photo of a hula dancer for you today honoring your birthday! My Wailea Daily Photo isn't too far behind.:-)

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  10. I agree with everyone about the dreadful site Eric and I hope you weren't tempted to enter in your information (everyone of course knows what their BMI index is) - I suspect the site is used to set up "cookies" so that you will start receiving some unwanted 'lose weight NOW' advertising via email.
    Also on a lighter note: apropos Lynn's comment - but this is about chocolate: 3 minutes in the mouth; 3 months on the hips! Oh, and I should confess that I sat down on the couch to read my lastest purchase - a hefty weight loss book - while munching on chocolate! [ Way to go, Dive! I re-read your 'pregnant' piece today and not only had a good chuckle but found myself identifying with much of it, apart from the night out with Old K of course. ] Goodness knows what M.B thought, he's much too polite to comment about the 10 kgs I've put on since my last back surgery - which I AM about to lose by the way.
    Eric - sorry to get so off track - I guess this is a good ad campaign provided that it doesn't cause a crash while the scooter driver's eyes are averted from the road as he passes by; particularly if he is a slow reader! Desolee ...

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  11. Oh my gosh Eric - Lynn will be on my case for the "enter in" tautology. I do apologise - strike the word "in", after the word "enter" in line 2 of my preceding comment.

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  12. Eric, congratulations on the second anniversary of PDP, better late than ever, and thanks a lot for create this community to show our cities. You are part of the web history! Great shot of this campaign.

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  13. Hello Eric, I intend to start a new blog about the city I love (Copenhaguen) and would like couple of infos if you do not mind : how much visitors do you get a day on average, and how much money do you think it is possible to make ? (how much do you make on average ?)

    Thank you !

    Yolanda

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  14. ENTER IN, Mme? (she screamed predictably) Tautology reigns... lol!
    Laughed at your reading that book whilst eating choc! Sounds a bit like me. Avoiding the stuff is a struggle.

    Nikon: In the UK now it's a £60 instant fine and three points on your licence for phoning while driving. I admit i've done it on occasions but no more - i pull over! I have missed lots of calls trying to find a space to stop though and it costs me money as i then have to call them back but well, it's safer for sure and i don't want trouble with the police that would never do would it Mme in my position? I'd be in his bad books! lol.

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  15. it works, really ,, hmm

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  16. Yet another campaign. At least they don't show blood and kids flying over parents which more or less like showing cancer cases on cigarrette packets, useless. I find that more clever ads like the ones you show are more efficient. By the way I did not dare entering my data on that spooky clock. I don't want Her to put me on that list yet.

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  17. Relax -- the deathclock site does not set cookies.

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  18. You always bring us such an interesting perspective of Paris. And I'm glad to know the deathclock says I'm going to live to 102!

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  19. The ad campaign would probably be condiered a joke here too, much like the Truth campaign. I'm sure some people actually stop and think about it, but for the most part people find the ads themselves more interesting then the messages they intend.

    Ah Death Clock, I've always love you!

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  20. Fantastic Eric!! However in San Francisco the notices should be directed towards the Drivers!! SF is the number one city for Pedestrian Fatalities in the USA...Yikes!!!

    Also...if you click "pessimist" on the clock for any age...it tells you that you are already DEAD!! LOL!!! OH OH!!

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  21. Sadly, it's not just an ad campaign. When we visited the Bordeaux regions last November, black silhouettes sans details similar to the ones in Eric's photo dotted the roads where on would expect to see the small memorials with dead flowers indicating someone's death due to a traffic accident.

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  22. Michael! We missed you. What you doing in India then? You certainly get around don't you. I'm cut to the quick that you didn't choose Cheltenham. What can Delhi possibly have that we don't? Certainly not one of those ads.!

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  23. "Dreadful site" indeed! Who are they to call me ... well, never mind, my weight is my own business, and I can be concerned about it [or NOT] as I wish. That DeathClock should be BANNED!!
    Eric, je ne vous ai jamais écrit mais je regarde le site souvent ... et je l'adore. C'est ma fenêtre sur Paris que je ne vois pas depuis SIX ANS [pauvre Anne ... dans 2 sens! :)] et vous me faites grand plaisir avec vos photos et vos commentaires. Merci infiniment!

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  24. Great fun! The deathclock says I will live until 2046. That would make me 120years old...LOL Gee, maybe I should start a new career.

    Death is such a common subject. I've noticed that most people die eventually. LOL

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  25. LOL Johnny! I think you might just be the only one who dared try it! Wow 2046 you lucky thing you. Okay what's the new career going to be? French-speaking photojournalist?

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  26. O la vache, Johnny, I'll be dead at age 72 according to the death clock. It reminds me of a Calvin and Hobbes comic, when Calvin made a safet poster for a school project that said "be careful or be roadkill" and stuck some pizza on the cardboard.

    But back to reality: the ad campaign is great. Is that the tower near Chatelet that is being renovated? Don't have my map here..

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  27. Jeff, I was just thinking the same thing when I saw that tower... (I think it's Tour St. Jacques, but don't quote me on that)

    That poor thing has been under renovation since last year!! I remember noticing it then on my way to the picnic, remember it?

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  28. So we are back to speeding on a scooter........ :)

    Looks like I will be out your way in May for a week. Heading to London, Normandy, and Paris. Should be fun to see your world through my lens!

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  29. They used to leave badly crushed cars along the highways for drivers to think about while they speed by. Related to this is a cult movie by Claude Lelouch: "C'etait un rendez-vous." I have that clip on my blog here

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  30. Nah, I did it too, lynn. Actually I've done it many times in the past. I've generally got until 2076 to go. Nice long life.

    Fear not, lynn, if Michael's business ever has reason to send him to Cheltenham I'm sure he'll visit you too! Aside from when he visited Florida this past holiday season all his travels are for work!

    Michael, you work too much. You need a nice long relaxing vacation. St. Louis has many wonderful spas, you know! And some museums. Though I know none of them would be as fantastic as any you could visit in Paris.

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  31. That would be great, Soosha. Michael was my first ever person to comment at my Cheltenham blog. It's only fitting he should come there at some point. lol. Ok ok after St. Louis. Sigh..... lol.

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  32. There are similar campaigns here in Switzerland, most aimed at teenagers who kill themselves in sports cars. I'll try and find a photo for my blog sometime. Tried the death clock and found out I should have been buried last month sometime

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  33. Works as a double meaning in English when to be "late" means you are dead. ie "The Late Phillipe..." would be a dead Phillipe. Is there that meaning of en retard in French?

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  34. LOL Soosha and Lynn...I can tell you that Delhi for work is more than work. It is an adventure that after one week leaves you craving the water from the tap while brushing your teeth when you get home.

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  35. I should add that the people are lovely and despite all the hardships, the desire to improve is so strong that it leaves you motivated to go back every time.

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  36. Road accidents are the biggest cause of death for the under 25s in France a frightening statistic. I hope this campaign works.

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  37. Oh, and Johnnyparsons, you're going to beat me by 6 years -- but I'll only be .. well, disons that I won't yet have hit 100! Waahh ... And Sooshaq, how is it that you get THIRTY years more than I? Hardly seems fair! (Unless you're that much nicer a person ... which is entirely possible!! Ha!)

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