Motorbikes make up less than 1% of road traffic but account for more than 20% of serious and fatal vehicle casualties in the U.K., a stark statistic cited by Highways England, the government-owned company charged with operating, maintaining and improving England’s motorways and major A Roads. Part of its remit is reducing the number of people killed or seriously injured on its network of thoroughfares.
Towards that end, adam&eveDDB and Highways England have created a new campaign encouraging motorcyclists to take control of their own safety by taking as much care of their own bodies, as they do their beloved bikes.
The campaign focuses on the launch of a brand-new “bike parts” shop but, instead of bike parts, the shop stocks prosthetics used in surgery to repair the body after a crash.
The “BikerTek” parts shops, produced in partnership with Haygarth–a creative agency within the DDB network–have appeared at 13 motorcycling events, festivals and cafés around the country throughout the summer.
The “parts” in the shop looked like high-end bike parts, but on closer inspection were in fact titanium medical implants you may need if undergoing major surgery following an accident.
The shops were all staffed by real bikers who had survived accidents and had prosthetic parts fitted as a result, so they could talk to bikers about the tactics and skills required to avoid accidents.
adam&eveDDB created this online film showing the unsuspecting bikers’ reactions when they find out what the parts in the shop are really for. The film ends with the line “Bikes repair easier than bikers.”
Directed by Dan & Ben Tubby of production company Tubby Brother Films, the online film will be shared by influential bikers and biking groups throughout England in September this year and is supported by a series of press ads in biker magazines including MCN Motorcycle News, Ride, Bike, Practical Sportsbikes and Classic Bike. The campaign has also been covered by broadcasters such as BBC South-East, ITV Meridian, Brighton Latest TV and BBC Radio Sussex.
Mike Stern, managing partner at adam&eveDDB, said: “Bike safety campaigns tend to use shock tactics, but that approach can often miss the mark. We wanted bikers to be as passionate about their safety as they are about their bikes. With BikerTek, we were able to engage bikers in new way and talk to them directly about an issue they can’t afford to ignore.”
