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Star Wars Fans Greeted by Drunk Driving PSAs

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Chewy and Han Solo from the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer

This time of year is especially dangerous on our nation’s roadways, as it combines holiday celebrations with potentially dangerous weather conditions. Instead of waiting for Christmas next week to start the fight against drunk driving as usual, government agencies have changed the launch date of their ad campaigns to tonight’s release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.


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Eager moviegoers will be treated to this year’s latest “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” public service announcements from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration before each showing of the highly-anticipated Star Wars sequel. The announcement was made by Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx from a Washington DC movie theater before preview showings began.

As if that was not enough, Star Wars fans seeing the movie at the theater where the announcement was held earlier in the day were greeted by a DUI Mobile Enforcement Van, along with a sizable police presence. That should be enough to make sure that any line at the bar is short (and paranoid).


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If you stop to think about it, this strategy by the NHTSA is a really good idea. The opening night presale for Star Wars: The Force Awakens was popular enough to crash popular movie ticket ordering site Fandango. Ads before films, unlike those on TV, cannot be fast forwarded through or skipped. With a captive audience this large, the yearly commercials are sure to get more attention than they would have if their release was held off until Christmas.

I’m just thankful that it doesn’t look like the PSAs have a Star Wars theme, like the electronic traffic signs popping up on America’s highways.

News Source: AutoBlog