Billboards Featuring Models Can Distract Drivers
Posted on December 1, 2005
NBC News has an article that discusses the risk billboard ads featuring models may pose on the highways. A recent study found that the billboard ads do indeed distract drivers. One ad in particular is a recent Wonderbra ad featuring Eva Herzigova.
The article says a new research study, conducted by Privilege Insurance, queried male and female drivers about how they reacted to the ad. The features Eva in a black bra. Eva appears on the billboard to be looking down at the road. The ad also has the words "Hello Boys" in large letters. One in five male drivers said their eyes were diverted from the road by billboard ads like the one featuring Eva. Women were less likely to be distracted. One in ten of the women queried said a billboard featuring a model wearing underwear could distract them while driving.
You can see a photo of the Eva billboard ad that has been potentially distracting drivers on The Huffington Post.
You may think that drivers don't look away for long but it doesn't take much inattention to cause an accident. The NBC story says a 5-second distraction can cost a drive going 60 mph the length of a soccer pitch. That's clearly long enough for a driver to miss something on the road, such as cars breaking in front of him.
A BBC story discusses at a few other distracting billboards. It says that drivers are being warned over lingerie billboards. A brand called Sloggi has been running some potentially distracting billboards in England. The ads were approved by the Advertising Standards Agency.
Update: The Wonderbra Hello Boys campaign has been re-imagined in a new Bonds campaign in Australia. The ad stars actress Rachael Taylor and says "G'Day Boys" instead of "Hello Boys." Time will tell if it causes any traffic issues down under.