San Francisco Department of Public Health
Red Light Running and Tobacco Education Campaigns
Since 1995, the Traffic Safety/Stop Red Light Running and Pedestrian Safety campaigns have contributed to the public’s awareness of dangerous driving behaviors such as red light running and aggressive driving. O’Rorke has utilized a variety of print and electronic media for these campaigns, including street sign advertising, postcards, bumper stickers, and even “Chill Out” antenna balls distributed to drivers.
Another successful campaign for the SF DPH featured an award-winning television ad that used a radical juxtaposition to suggest cigars “look like what they smell like” and urged people: “Don’t put them in your mouth.” O’Rorke generated over 200 media hits, and Jay Leno even mentioned the commercial in his opening monologue on the “Tonight Show!”
With our 2004 “Bar Nights” campaign, O’Rorke was faced with promoting attitude changes towards drinking and driving. O’Rorke partnered with age-appropriate “education teams” of five UC Berkeley sorority members and visited several bars throughout San Francisco, offering patrons laminated cards listing taxi phone numbers, and napkins designed to look like a bar tab which added up the true cost of a DUI.
