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| Okayama is number 1! At not using turn signals… Image source: Toyopet Okayama |
A new video that tries to get drivers in Okayama Prefecture to use their turn signals more has gotten quite popular online due to its sarcastic tone and very interesting use of that packing material people love to pop, bubble wrap.
This new PSA was made by Toyopet Okayama, an Okayama Prefecture car dealership, in response to the results of a national survey conducted last year by the Japan Automobile Federation, which found that Okayama drivers failed to use their turn signals more than drivers of any other prefecture.
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| Use of turn signal = not from Okayama Image source: Toyopet Okayama |
The video opens up with a man, who is not from Okayama, seeming to be lost. You can tell this guy isn’t from Okayama since the video very clearly shows him using his turn signal.
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| Image source: Toyopet Okayama |
Although this turn signal using man doesn’t realize it, he has mistakenly made his way to an unidentified town in Okayama, where everything and everyone is covered in bubble wrap.
It doesn’t take long for the man to realize that the reason for this strange use of bubble wrap is that getting hit by cars is a daily occurrence in this very dangerous town, where there is no better way for people to protect themselves against drivers who don’t use their turn signals like they should.
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| “Let’s use turn signals.” “Let’s cover entire towns in bubble wrap.” Image source: Toyopet Okayama |
The video ends by stating that perhaps this kind of drastic measure is necessary to stay safe in a place where on average a traffic accident occurs every 50 minutes. The video then proposes that people in Okayama cover their towns in bubble wrap. Thankfully, this message gets crossed out and then a new message comes on screen asking people to use their turn signals.
After the release of this PSA earlier this month (Apr. 5), the video quickly caught people’s attention and to date has managed to get well over 200,000 views on YouTube. All this attention has even resulted in televison channels in Okayama airing the PSA as a commercial.
Sources: ANN News, The Huffington Post (Japan)
