Journal #4

I encountered this poster in a London double-decker bus while riding from Leicester Square to Waterloo. I wasn't able to get a quality photo of the poster on the bus, but was able to find it online.

The poster is a part of the THINK road safety campaign sponsored by the Mayor of London and Transport for London. The campaign aims at increasing traffic safety for pedestrians and cyclists on the London roads.

This specific poster seems to be targeting pedestrians in London, specifically teenagers and young adults. The poster depicts a young person with a phone in hand and the text implies that he was hit by a truck due to his focus on his phone. Seeing as young people are the most likely individuals to be focusing on their phones or texting while walking, the poster attempts to influence them specifically.

The objective of this poster is to educate pedestrians about the dangers of texting while walking through the streets of London.

The campaign utilizes a top-down approach, employing health education to influence the audience. It demonstrates the dangers of texting while walking and attempts to cause behavior change in the individual with the tagline, "stop.think.live".

If I could ask the director of the campaign one question, it would be about the decision of using the third person, rather than first person in the message. The message implies that some of the blame may be placed on the other individual for texting his friend, rather than completely on the victim.