trendz web winter spring ptc teen loungeMarketers at Pickering Town Centre (PTC) evidently didn’t see the point in beating around the bush when they designed the Canadian mall’s #live2see20 Teen Lounge. Intent on teaching youths about the potentially deadly consequences of texting and being distracted behind the wheel, they tackled the subject head on, putting up a funeral set with a coffin full of mobile phones. Grim? Definitely. A little over the top as well perhaps, but it visually “branded” the lounge and created an attraction of sort for its Friday the 13th inspired media preview and official launch.

PTC marketing director Lorna Murphy co-hosted the event with community partner Accident Awareness Inc.’s collision experts, Robert Annan and John Hinds. It featured a car-crash display outside the lounge that was just as stark and matter-of-fact as the coffin set. If that and the information shared on the dangers of texting while driving still weren’t enough to counter some teens’ bravado, a driving simulator was there to test anyone’s on-road awareness skills and provide a good dose of reality. A local high-school theatre group even gave a “Zombie Walk” performance to support PTC’s message, which the mall repeated loudly during Spring Break and will continue to deliver.

Hanging out in the #live2see20 lounge is free, but teens can’t enter it unless they pledge not to text and drive—they can do so on-site or online at PickeringTownCentre.com. Once inside, the atmosphere isn’t just heavy, though. The space is also kitted out with a juice and snack bar, video and board games, air hockey, and a foosball table. The first people to check it out were 50 Teenage VIP Access contest winners. Lucky for them, PTC had installed a Wheel of Swag for them to win food vouchers, gift cards, surprise items, and more. The mall ran a contest as well for pledgers, who got a chance to win a full course from Young Drivers of Canada.

This video shows that life can be altered in the blink of a distracted eye.


May.
2015