PSA from CTIA Shows 'A Thousand Ways to Stop a Distracted Driver'

The simple act of speaking up could make all the difference, and there are at least a thousand ways to do it. So says CTIA’s new PSA, '1000 Ways', the latest campaign from directing duo Mark & Spencer of Curfew, and made in collaboration with January Third. As part of CTIA’s Drive Smart initiative, the campaign launches at the beginning of April to kick off Distracted Driving Awareness Month.

Upbeat and relatable, '1000 Ways to Stop a Distracted Driver' puts the focus on the passenger. The camera pops around to a variety of separate moving cars with passengers of different ages, genders, and ethnicities—a skateboarder in the backseat of a jaguar-print sedan, a woman on the passenger side of a desert-bound car, an elderly man and his sheepdog companion, a chic woman in a convertible cruising through a cityscape, a hip couple grabbing a ride share between bars. These disparate characters have only one thing in common: they aren’t cool with their driver texting. Our passenger-seat hero plucks the phone from his driver’s hands, and, one by one, all of our dissenting passengers convince their drivers to focus on the road. “There are a thousand ways to stop a distracted driver. Choose one.”

“So often, PSA campaigns aim to shock drivers with grim overtones and overly-dramatized scenes,” says the campaign’s co-director and Curfew co-founder Spencer Dennis. “But when we got the opportunity to work with January Third and CTIA to bring awareness to distracted driving, we wanted to explore all the unique ways a passenger could tell a driver no. Through our casting, cinematography, and art direction we aimed to make something that was memorable, and we're excited with how it all came together.” The resulting campaign is universal – we’ve all been in the car with a distracted driver – and it’s told from so many diverse perspectives we’re bound to identify with one of them. 

Drivers of all ages are prone to distracted driving, affecting the community as a whole, on and off the road. CTIA represents the wireless communications industry in the US. According to their recent survey, nearly 60 percent of drivers said they would be more likely to stop driving distracted if a friend or passenger demands that they do. The Drive Smart initiative provides facts and resources to help prevent distracted driving and encourages safe, responsible driving behavior. 

Curfew was founded in Brooklyn in 2015, its most recent expansion included the addition of an office in Los Angeles in 2021. Their roster of directors includes Mike Lee Thomas, Madeline Clayton, Angie Bird, Andrew Litten, Abraham Felix, and Mark & Spencer. Curfew is represented on the East Coast by Jared Shapiro of Moustache, on the West Coast by Lauren Schuchman of Diplomat Reps, and in the Midwest by Doug Stephen of Doug Stephen & Partners.