Romania is in the last place in Europe in terms of wearing their seatbelt in cars.

People are driven by the 'I’m above the law' attitude and the strong perception that it cannot happen to them, while the police perception is very far from being the best. No wonder the classical educational messages from authorities are completely ignored.

So, we needed a new, memorable way to communicate the message from the Romanian Traffic Police.

Considering the rather negative perception the police has, we decided to change the relationship between the source and the audience by letting the audience’s perspective prevail.

People will reconsider the importance of the seatbelt when it is missing. We went for new communication channel - cars dealerships. We modified several cars, removing their seatbelts. Then we called the new owners to pick up their newly-arrived cars from the dealership.

As a twist, we added an unexpected free equipments offer, to lure and divert them from the lack of seatbelts. We filmed everything with hidden cameras.

The experience created a lasting impression making everyone rediscover and reconsider the seatbelts and their utility.

Nobody wanted to the take the car out of the dealership without the seat-belts, regardless of promo offers. They all left the dealership wearing the seatbelts. Maybe for the first time.

Considering the powerful response, the Romanian Traffic Police decided to use the movie of the whole experience as mandatory material in all driving school theoretical courses in Romania and adopt this way to address drivers from now on.

The message became more important than its source.

Seeing live the alternative, drivers reacted as authorities only dreamed of. We changed the conversation in the category making the drivers stand up for their right to have seatbelts and wear them.