Congestion Relief: Public Service Campaign

Produce television public service announcements that are also available as Internet videos. Fables and parables teach appropriate behavior through analogy. New territory is hard for many to comprehend. Some people are hard to reach, but humor can help create a lasting impression. Imagine the following videos in the Seattle area, where mass transit has been a fiasco.

Moving Assistance video: The Commuter Presort message can be communicated with a volunteer cast of thousands forming a bucket brigade, moving hundreds of household items along the sidewalks of our communities – over hills, across bridges and past landmarks - to their new home. By ferry or ski lift we follow the move. Play is halted at sporting events for fans and players to join a bucket brigade outside on the sidewalk, baffling the opposing team. After the flow passes, the umpire shouts, “Play ball.” Musicians and audience – dressed in tux and gown – file onto the sidewalk outside a symphony hall to keep books, furniture, goldfish in a fishbowl, kitchen utensils, docile pet cat, and buckets moving along.

Casting Call video: Crafting this new self-image should be fun. Seattle Seafair pirates can begin the move by ransacking the starting home and passing belongings to a mixture of: ordinary citizens, people dressed in costume, members of supporting organizations - like trade unions and church choirs, until finally Seattle celebrities ask, “Where does this go?”

On Time video: With a volunteer cast of thousands, a stadium can be emptied in choreographed fashion. Each row of people remains seated waiting in turn to stand and take to the stairs in precision then proceed to the exits and to buses parked outside, where they load into labeled school buses - from districts throughout the region. Airport flight attendants give the safety rundown aboard each bus as ground crews, with flashlight wands, direct bus departures. Rated best “ON TIME” service in the industry.

Rat Race video: Inside a bus, cheerful passengers sway and sing a song in multi-part harmony. “Thank you mister bus driver, bus driver, bus driver. Thank you mister bus driver. Thanks for the ride. We went this way, and that way, and this way, and that way. Thank you mister bus driver. Thanks for the ride.” Viewed from outside, the bus turns into a bank parking lot where the sports fans depart to parked cars, exchange good-byes, and leave for home. Voice over: “Forget the rat race. Rejoin the human race. Ride share.”

A Better Deal video: The educational show-and-tell approach of proof is needed to create believers and missionaries, not just followers. On a split screen, top and bottom, two decks of cards sit face-up on a green felt background. The top deck is then shuffled. Dealing starts from both decks simultaneously. Each half screen shows its own timer. In the top half screen, cards are placed down in piles of the same suit. When the deck is depleted each pile is sorted from King to Ace and spread on the table. At the same time in the bottom half screen, thirteen cards are counted from the top of the deck then spread on the table. The cards are presorted. This is repeated for the next thirteen cards and so forth until done. Each timer stops when its process is finished. The timer on bottom stops much sooner than the timer on top. The top is labeled, “Late 20th Century Suburbs.” The bottom is labeled, “A Better Deal.”