As official partners of the United Nations Road Safety Fund, Bridgestone wanted to run a campaign during United Nations Road Safety Week (May 15th to 21st, 2023). With reckless lane changing being a leading cause of accidents in the UAE, we reached out to Dr. Donald Redelmeier to gain a deeper understanding of his study. Bridgestone turned his ‘visual illusion’ into a song called ‘Highway Illusion’, in collaboration with local musicians. To launch it, we designed a first-ever media roadblock where the song aired across leading radio stations in the UAE – at the same time – for a period of seven days. The campaign called for extreme coordination with multiple radio partners to ensure that the song aired at exactly the same time across all stations for the ‘roadblock’ to have the desired impact.

On the occasion of United Nations Road Safety Week, Bridgestone created the first-ever nationwide media roadblock, featuring the original song ‘Highway Illusion.’ The song was simultaneously broadcast on all the leading radio channels across the UAE to demonstrate how changing lanes is just as futile as changing radio stations.

We collaborated with Dr. Donald Redelmeier, a road safety expert from the University of Toronto, to turn his study into a compelling song about reckless lane changing.

We steered away from fear tactics to leverage the retentive power of music, creating an earworm that would play in people’s minds each time they had the urge to change lanes.

Composed in three different languages, ‘Highway Illusion’ delivered an inescapable entertaining reminder that changing lanes to save time is not only a delusion, but dangerous too.

Radio listenership in the UAE is one of the highest in the world, with nearly 8 million people tuning in every week – representing 97% national reach. With most drivers in the UAE tuning into the radio during their commute, we saw this as a great opportunity to leverage the retentive power of music. And turn a medium that’s often been pronounced dead into a potentially lifesaving medium.

Given the popularity of music on social media, we saw the song as an opportunity to engage our social media community, inviting them to record their own versions. ‘Highway Illusion’ put Bridgestone in the spotlight, garnering many more followers across our social handles.

As official partners of the United Nations Road Safety Fund, Bridgestone wanted to run a campaign during United Nations Road Safety Week (May 15th to 21st, 2023). With reckless lane changing being a leading cause of accidents in the UAE, we reached out to Dr. Donald Redelmeier to gain a deeper understanding of his study. Bridgestone turned his ‘visual illusion’ into a song called ‘Highway Illusion’, in collaboration with local musicians. To launch it, we designed a first-ever media roadblock where the song aired across leading radio stations in the UAE – at the same time – for a period of seven days. The campaign called for extreme coordination around their programming with partners to ensure that the song aired at exactly the same time across multiple radio stations for the ‘roadblock’ to have the desired impact.

‘Highway Illusion’ reached 65% of the local population, airing twice a day during rush hour. The initiative was organically covered by all the leading RJs and influencers. It successfully became an earworm, with recall effectiveness measured at 92%. On social media, hundreds shared their cover versions, taking our road safety song far and wide.

We steered away from fear tactics to leverage the retentive power of music, creating an earworm that would play in people’s minds each time they had the urge to change lanes.