LPWire: Cinderella Tie-In To Booster Seat Safety Awareness

U.S. Department of Transportation/National Highway Transportation Administration (NHTSA), The Ad Council and Buena Vista Home Entertainment (BVHE) Launch First-Ever PSA to Promote Booster Seat Awareness
Expansive TV, Outdoor, Radio and Online Campaign Lends Walt Disney's Original 'Cinderella' Classic to Life-Saving PSAs

The U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Advertising Council (AdCouncil) today announced an unprecedented tie-in with Walt Disney's original "Cinderella" animated feature and Buena Vista Home Entertainment (BVHE), to educate families on the importance of booster seats until children reach 4 feet 9 inches in height. As part of the effort, an expansive Public Service Advertisement (PSA) campaign will roll out via television, radio, outdoor and online media, featuring facts about booster seat usage, themed to the "Cinderella" story and utilizing original footage and characters from Walt Disney's classic animated motion picture, to make the campaign more effective and appealing to both children and parents.

This new and innovative way of combining life-saving information about child safety seat use with a well-known entertainment property is the first-ever collaboration of the three organizations and was created in response to overwhelming statistics indicating booster seats reduce the number of avoidable deaths and serious injuries from car crashes each year. The expansive new public service campaign is designed to create awareness among parents of young children who have outgrown their toddler seats, that a booster seat is a must for any child under 4 feet 9 inches tall, to lift them up so that a safety belt fits properly. Booster seat use is required by law in 33 states and the District of Columbia.

"We're delighted that the Ad Council and BVHE have agreed to help us get kids between four and eight into booster seats," said NHTSA Deputy Administrator Jacqueline Glassman. "What better messenger than the Fairy Godmother to tell us that the magic number is 4'9"."

"We are very proud to stand with NHTSA in promoting child safety by lending Walt Disney's original beloved 'Cinderella' characters to this important safety campaign," Robert Chapek, President, Buena Vista Home Entertainment said. "Using the beloved Fairy Godmother and Cinderella to help deliver this message, but in a more family-friendly way, can heighten the public's receptivity to such an important safety issue."

FACTS ABOUT BOOSTER SEAT SAFETY:

NHTSA research indicates at least 80 percent of children who should be using booster seats are not. Without this extra lift, in a car crash, a safety belt alone can cause fatal or disabling abdominal, spinal, head and neck injuries. In fact, the use of booster seats lowers the risk of injury to children in crashes by 59 percent compared to the use of safety belts alone.* In 2003 alone, 331 booster-aged child passengers (ages 4 to 8) died in crashes -- a 4 percent increase over 2002 (49 percent of these children were completely unrestrained). In response to past work of NHTSA and others, more than 30 states have passed laws in recent years requiring child passengers to ride in a booster seat once they have outgrown their toddler seat.

*According to a study by Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

The U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Transportation Safety Administration's booster seat information website is www.boosterseat.gov

--Posted October 3, 2005
Source: Buena Vista Home Entertainment