This video, supported by mobile
phone company AT&T, is a campaign to inform people of the effects of
texting and driving. Through several firsthand accounts, we see the destruction
left behind when someone sends their last text. The video opens with simple black
on white text explaining AT&T’s intent to share several stories of texting
and driving. The first man we see is a police officer, driving down a highway.
He talks about an accident involving a girl named Mariah. He describes the
accident in detail, recounting how this girl was thrown from the vehicle,
including details such as “her face was disfigured,” and “I noticed her cap and
gown were still in the car.” He continues to express that this was a horrific accident,
and it happened all because of a “senseless text message.” Several different
people come onscreen to describe their friend, sister, or daughter as a
multitasker, emphasizing how good that person was at texting. A young girl
explains how her sister was looking at a text she had sent, and when she looked
up she clipped the median on the road, causing her truck to flip and ejecting
her from the driver’s side door. The sister then describes the weight of being
the one who sent that last text, expressing a need to tell her sister that she’s
sorry. She shows us her sister’s phone, and the text that she sent to her on
that day. “Four little letters. That’s what killed her.” The next scene shows a
young man, struggling to do simple tasks such as buttoning up a shirt, walking,
and throwing a ball. His speech is slurred. This young man tells us that “People
don’t realize it could just take three seconds,” followed by a recounting of
the car accident he was in; a direct collision with a tree. During the
accident, he was hit on his right temple. He explains that he used to be able
to lots of things, used to be normal before this accident, and now he isn’t because
the driver had to be texting. The next story we are told is of Mariah, from her
mother and several friends. They all describe Mariah as a wonderful person, and
we see them gathering to remember her on what would have been her nineteenth
birthday. In the video’s closing, we once again see the police officer who
found Mariah, telling us that she’s not the only accident he has to deal with,
and it never gets and easier, He then drives home the message of the video, “What
is worth losing your life over, that text message?” Then we see each person
holding a page with the words of the last text, the text that changed their
lives.
This video shows us what happens
when texting and driving goes wrong, and urges us to not let the same happen to
us, and our family and friends. We see the not only the devastation left behind
for those people who feel the loss, but one story shows what could happen to
us. The videos of the man who suffered brain damage warn that if we don’t loss
our lives in an accident, we could still lose ourselves. Images of the
accidents are interspersed throughout the video, illustrating the damage done.
Seeing the physical damage to the people involved in the accidents is meant to
invoke a fear response. The people we see, struggling with loss are also used
as an emotional device to get us to sympathize with them; make us feel their
pain and think about how we would feel if we lost a loved one. The entire video
is meant to react to our emotions, make us sad or scared enough that we
understand how awful texting and driving can end up, not just for you, but for
everyone you know and love.
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