Safety took center stage during Super Bowl XLIX thanks to Nationwide’s “Make Safe Happen” commercial.
The spot, which featured a little boy who died from a preventable accident, was designed to be jarring in order to “start a conversation,” Nationwide said.
“I’ll never learn to ride a bike. Or get cooties. I’ll never learn to fly. Or travel the world with my best friend. And I won’t ever get married,” the child says. “I couldn’t grow up because I died from an accident.”
Nationwide released a statement after the ad aired in response to the strong audience reaction:
Preventable injuries around the home are the leading cause of childhood deaths in America. Most people don’t know that. Nationwide ran an ad during the Super Bowl that started a fierce conversation. The sole purpose of this message was to start a conversation, not sell insurance. We want to build awareness of an issue that is near and dear to all of us—the safety and well being of our children. We knew the ad would spur a variety of reactions. In fact, thousands of people visited MakeSafeHappen.com, a new website to help educate parents and caregivers with information and resources in an effort to make their homes safer and avoid a potential injury or death. Nationwide has been working with experts for more than 60 years to make homes safer. While some did not care for the ad, we hope it served to begin a dialogue to make safe happen for children everywhere.
Preventable Injuries
In fact, preventable injuries are the No. 1 killer of children in the U.S., with as many as 8,000 kids killed per year, according to Safe Kids Worldwide - an organization working to prevent injuries in children.
Of those deaths, more than 2,400 occur at home from accidental injuries. And another 3 million kids require emergency room care each year.
Among the biggest risks are: poisoning, choking, drowning, falls and fires/burns.