It starts with a long, drawn-out scrape as a blade scrapes along the stubble of a man’s face. The crackling sound repeats over and over again in a few short seconds.

We’re not describing an enticing new ASMR video, but rather the everyday routine of a man whose daily grooming routine has become a little slower, more methodical and deliberate.

The video tells us that Marc can only do one thing at a time – that means no quick rinse of the razor while he runs his fingers through his hair, no brushing his teeth while he picks out his clothes. Marc, the man depicted in the video, decided to do “two things at once” – texting and driving. Now, as the 30-second spot by Lg2 shows, Marc has to take things a lot slower and more carefully. And he doesn’t seem happy about it.

The Societé de l’assurance automobile du Quebec’s spot is sobering – and it’s not even the first texting and driving spot we’ve covered this week. Yesterday, we published the National Safety Council’s equally haunting warning about how a fateful text can change your life forever – and not in a good way. Perhaps the pervasiveness of these ads is a sign that the problem still needs some work.

According to CAA, drivers who text are eight times more likely to get in an accident, and currently more than one-quarter of Canadian car crashes involve phone use (including 10% of fatal crashes and 18% of injury crashes, like the one our protagonist Marc would have been involved in). Five seconds checking a text at 90 km/h means you’ve travelled the length of a football field blindfolded.

So, if you’re still not ready to put the phone down, think of all the times you’ve taken advantage of being able to do two things at once – like drinking a coffee while using a computer or getting ready for the day while playing with your kids. Save the multitasking for the moments that count.

Credits

Client: Societe de l’assurance automobile du Quebec (SAAQ)
Agency: Lg2, Quebec City, Canada
Creative director / art director: Luc Du Sault
Copywriter: Nicolas Boisvert
Account directors: Alexandra Laverdière, Roxanne Dupont , Catherine Darius , Mireille Côté
Agency producers: Isabelle Fonta, Claudia Lemire
Director: Maxime Giroux
Production house: Geneviève Sylvestre, Emmanuelle Bérubé / Les Enfants
Sound design: BLVD
Visual effects: Mels