Never Happens (Hot Car Heatstroke Prevention)

adsoftheworld.com

Also: Child Heatstroke Prevention

“Never Happens”

Ad Council and NHTSA campaign launched May 1, 2024 (National Heatstroke Prevention Day) countering parents' belief that leaving a child in a hot car 'never happens' to people like them, covering forgotten children, children who climb into unlocked cars and children knowingly left behind. Builds on NHTSA's own 2019 'Where's Baby? Look Before You Lock' message.

Years: 2024–now
Country: United States
Topic: Injury prevention
Asks people to: Recognize Start
Strategy: Fear appeal Simple instruction
Channel: Outdoor Radio Social (paid)TV
Audience: Parents
Parents and caregivers of young children.

Evidence

NoneUnknown

Sponsor (who paid)

Ad Council Ad Council (pro bono), campaign producer
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Federal government, partner/sponsor

Credits (who made it)

Chemistry Creative, 2024- source

Executions (individual ads)

Never Happens launch PSAs 2024 · tv
Richard Scarry partnership PSAs tv
Left-behind scenario PSAs 2026 · tv

Related campaigns

Child Car Safety (The Right Seat) 2017–now

Sources

The Ad Council and NHTSA launch new Never Happens campaign (Ad Council) sponsor · 2024
Never Happens campaign raises awareness around hot car deaths (LBB Online) news · 2024
OAAA launches hot car prevention campaign with Ad Council, NHTSA (invidis) news · 2026

Research notes

Credits checked 2026-10-22 against fetched pages: Chemistry (Ad Council release, 1 May 2024, 'pro bono creative agency Chemistry'; the campaign page lists Chemistry, Wordsworth & Booth and Penguin Random House, the last for the Richard Scarry assets). Year of the Richard Scarry partnership PSAs not confirmed (2025 likely). Whether Chemistry made the 2026 PSAs not confirmed. Links (#82) from the Ad Council cause page's Visit Campaign Site button, checked 2026-10-23.

Record cases/ad-council-never-happens.json, updated 2026-10-23· Link to this campaign