Stop Accidents (Ad Council / National Safety Council)
The Ad Council's first public-safety campaign. It began with the Office of War Information around 1944-45 and targeted the four leading causes of serious injury: traffic, home, workplace and farm accidents. From 1947 it worked with the National Safety Council on highway deaths. In 1961 it was refocused on seat belts.
- Years
- 1944–1961
- Country
- United States
- Topic
- Injury prevention
- Asks people to
- Stop
- Strategy
- Simple instruction
- Channel
- OutdoorPrintRadio
- Audience
- General public
Evidence
NoneUnknown
Sponsor (who paid)
- War Advertising Council (renamed Advertising Council in 1946) Ad Council (pro bono), campaign producer
- Ad Council Ad Council (pro bono), campaign producer
- Office of War Information Federal government, wartime partner
- National Safety Council NGO, partner from 1947
Credits (who made it)
- Young & Rubicam Creative, 1947-1954 source
- Cecil & Presbey Creative, 1954 source
- Campbell-Ewald Creative, 1955-1960 source
- G. M. Basford Creative, 1960-1961 source
Related campaigns
Sources
- Safety First! The Ad Council Drives Caution Home, 1944-1954 (University of Illinois Archives) archive
- The Greatest Show of Love: Seat Belt Safety before Vince and Larry 1961-1973 archive
- University of Illinois Archives, Ad Council Historical File 1941-1997 (RS 13/2/207), finding aid, box(es) 79-82, 148 archive
Research notes
Start year: the archives post title says 1944, while a 1961 statement by Ad Council president Theodore Repplier says the campaign launched in 1945. The end year of 1961 marks the seat-belt refocus, not a formal end. The 'Safety First' post cites RS 13/2/207 (Historical File) boxes for Stop Accidents materials from 1948-1954. That is the place to retrieve originals. Originals: Illinois Archives RS 13/2/207, box(es) 79-82, 148; the parsed folder list is in data/ad-council-historical-file-13-2-207.tsv. Credits from the Illinois Historical File (13/2/207), Series 'Stop Accidents / Traffic Safety' (National Safety Council 'Green Cross'): Young & Rubicam 1947-54 (34 folders; 'Be careful, the life you save may be your own'), Cecil & Presbey 1954, Campbell-Ewald 1955-60, G. M. Basford 1960-61. The 1944 items are Office of War Information booklets.
Record cases/ad-council-stop-accidents.json, updated 2026-10-22· Link to this campaign