April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month, and Honda (HMC) is bringing awareness to distracted driving with a new ad campaign.
It’s called #PhoneDownEyesUp—because every ad campaign needs a corresponding hashtag—and presents a series of videos in which people try to accomplish simple tasks while simultaneously texting. Spoiler alert: they’re not successful.
In one video, “Texting and Gardening,” the distracted texter unintentionally cuts down what appears to be a neighbor’s flowers. In others they’re seen accidentally giving a little girl a very disappointing haircut, feeding the dog pancakes instead of placing them on a plate, and sucking up curtains with a vacuum cleaner. Lastly, in a somewhat dark portrayal of cell phone addiction, the video “Texting and Working Out” shows someone getting distracted while spotting their friend at the gym.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAn315fbWUY
Basically the point of these commercials is that if you can’t complete these mundane, everyday tasks while texting, you probably shouldn’t be operating heavy machinery (aka your car) while texting either.
Though the videos are kind of silly—it’s safe to say that some of us are capable of returning a text while vacuuming—Honda is right that our multitasking skills aren’t that great. In fact, as Fortune previously reported, texting while walking has become an increasingly common reason for Emergency Room visits. And if we’re getting hurt by just texting and walking, it’s probably a good move to stop texting and driving.
