Thumb Wars to Fight Texting while Driving

RMN Digital | May 29, 2013 | Americas, Consumer, Lifestyle, Masses, Mobiles, Regions | No Comments

DoSomething.org, Sprint, and Toyota have joined forces to fight distracted driving this summer through a unique campaign, returning for its third year: Thumb Wars.

Currently, many campaigns on texting and driving rely heavily on traffic accident statistics and data to get teens to change their behavior.

DoSomething.org, Sprint and Toyota are taking a different approach with Thumb Wars – making it fun for teens to end texting and driving.

Earlier, Cellular One in Texas, Louisiana, and Montana joined forces with Nashville Recording Artist, Rachel Holder to promote driving safety utilizing video and audio Public Service Announcements (PSAs). (Read: No Texting & Driving Campaign with Rachel Holder)

How it works: teens sign up at www.dosomething.org/thumbwars and receive two pairs of yellow anti-texting thumb socks. Teens pick a friend or loved one they know who texts and drives and share the socks with them in a surprising way.

[ Also Read: Hollywood Stars Pledge Not to Text and Drive ]

[ Also Read: Girls More Inclined to Use e-Devices while Driving ]

[ Also Read: Are Teen Drivers Texting while Driving? ]

[ Also Read: What Were You Thinking while Driving? ]

[ Also Read: One Text or Call Could Wreck It All ]

They can hide them in their glove compartment, or put them on their cat. They snap a pic of them and the socks, and send it back to DoSomething.org. Teens can also share important texting-and-driving stats (available on the campaign microsite) on Thumb Wars to educate their friends.

Star of HBO’s The Newsroom, Olivia Munn, lends her talents for the Thumb Wars PSA this year, making the issue accessible and relatable for teens.

Other celebrity supporters include funnymen Joel McHale and Ken Jeong, who started a thumb war in honor of 2010’s inaugural campaign, and Glee heartthrob Harry Shum Jr. who supported the campaign in 2012 with his good looks and dance moves.

Sprint and Toyota have returned in 2013 as vital partners for the third year of the campaign.

Photo courtesy: DoSomething.org