Clever ad depicts iPod deaths -- look both ways, kids
By Paul Miller 
posted January 8th 2008 7:57PM
posted January 8th 2008 7:57PM
posted January 8th 2008 7:57PM
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Just think of all the money they will save on white chalk at least!!!!
ROFL. PWN3D
Veronica Belmont?
I wish my headphones were that long...
No you don't, they would get in the way, trip you and cause you to fall into moving traffic.
I see idiots riding they bicycles on a busy street with their headphones on.
When I was a teenager (too many years ago), I sold electronics at a department store:
I actually had a jackass come in and bitch me out because there wasn't a sign posted with the headphones saying that it was illegal in this state to drive wearing headphones. Of course he had, and got a ticket ... and he was mad enough to come in and complain that we didn't have a sign to notify him of it.
I immediately ran to housewares and hid all the signs stating, "shaving with a steak knife can kill you." I waited and waited for him to buy ... no luck.
Seriously why do we try to fight Darwinism so hard?
Hey, street advertisement is distracting... since it's, you know, designed so you look at it. Clearly this is dangerous. It should banned too.
Anyway, considering the default iPod earbuds don't block *any* external noise, I fail to see the problem. Of course, if you regularly set the volume to the max you might have a problem hearing an incoming van, but then you are probably half deaf by now and wouldn't hear it without them anyway... ;-)
Aaannnddd, The iPods OKAY!!
But it's still locked down with songs THAT COST 99 CENTS A SONG!!! AND I CAN GET UNLIMITED MUSIC FOR 15 BUCKS A MONTH!!! ALL I NEED IS A PLAYS FOR SURE DEVICE OR A ZUNE!!! OMG I'M GUNNA HAVE A HEART ATTACK BECAUSE OF ALL OF THE MONEY I'VE BEEN USELESSLY POURING INTO APPLE!!!
(And she dies from the heart attack)
But, Sam, regardless, the iPod's okay.
This is what happens when you realize you bought an iPod.
Pfft. Like the headphones are really that long.
Nothing to worry about kids, this is all just a hoax.
*completely missed the point*
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Let me get this straight. They want to stop us from listening to music as we cross the streets? So we have music on from corner to corner, then pause it while crossing and repeat this process for however long your walk requires? Err, how about HELLZ NO. What's the point of having a PMP if you aren't going to use them while traveling?
How about instead of scaring kids, telling them if you listen to an iPod while crossing the street, you'll die (which is, however, a pretty damn good basis of an urban legend, however) you tell them to look both ways?
The people who are too involved in their music to look both ways would probably be as absent-minded without their music. Result: instead of an artistic death, with the headphones acting as a chalk outline, we'll just have another corpse. Don't know about you guys, but I like art and music.
You've both nailed it on the head and missed the point at the same time, incredible.
Try this. You are crossing a quiet neighborhood between 2 vans while with your head phones on and didn't hear a truck rumbling towards you. You managed to catch the truck coming at the very last moment and you almost shit your pants.
Personally I prefer to take an earphone out when crossing a busy street, especially ones that aren't pedestrian friendly. Now I'm sure you could live your life and never get in trouble without doing this, but it makes me feel more secure. I don't even really think about it, just like to have all my senses about when doing something potentially dangerous.
Now if I'm downtown crossing with 20 other people, I wouldn't bother at all.
Looking both ways isn't always the issue. You can look both ways and in a second step out and something else comes along. The problem is having it turned up to drown out anything but the music. Max road safety = walk attentively, look both ways to cross any road (sometimes twice) and finally, LISTEN. Obviously these kids aren't getting step 2 or 3 down very well.
Hey, there is this *awesome* invention that will literally save everyone hours every day. The only problem is that it is going to kill over 40000 persons and injure about 3 million every year in the US alone.
Yes, it's called a car. Perhaps the ads should focus on the people controlling fast-moving tons of metal a bit more?
The NSW government spends more on advertising than the Federal Australian government. Once they've run out of awesome ideas for car crash ads they have to keep all those folks employed somehow.
Boy, you'd think that crosswalks would be killing off the deaf and hard of hearing by the bucket load. Why isn't that the case? Fewer deaf people to begin with? Maybe it is the case and we don't hear about it? (Get it? "Hear" about it? Hur hur hur.)
What's more likely? That people die in crosswalks because they can't hear, or because they were stupid/absent-minded/generally unlucky?
I think deaf people are more visually alert just the same as blind people hearing are more heightened.
looks like an idea for an apple ad really. I wire figure of a man made with ipod headphones dancing around with his ipod.
WHAT?
It looks like the Ipod has killed a Woman!!! OMG, we should put it in jail so that it can stop monopolizing the market of PMP's!!! Then products like the Zune will have a much better chance at high market share!!!!
LOL, JK. Anyways, yeah, I think this is stupid, I listen to my Zune sometimes when I'm in the streets, I've never been hit (I actually look both ways!)
The picture looks like a dude to me.
in b4 mitch 'i lost my ipod'
in b4 an hero
Hmm
Sounds like Darwin has been busy
Yeah, he and Thomas Maltus.
"The power of population is so superior to the power of the earth to produce subsistence for man, that premature death must in some shape or other visit the human race."
I meant Malthus not Malt--....yeah, like anyone gives a damn but me.
...and this only happens with ipods? what, did the walkman never make it to australia?
Oh come on... Half of people don't know what an MP3 player is outside of calling it an iPod. Why would they use a walkman? Last time I saw a walkman in person was about 5 years ago, an iPod less than 5 hours.
The better question is, why wouldn't they use an iPod?
I almost killed a girl who was listening to an iPod and wasn't paying attention while crossing the street here in Madison, WI. Lucky for her it was slippery out and I somehow pulled off some sick rally moves and drifted my car around her. It was amazing and really scary at the same time.
Pfft I cross some of the busiest roads where I live while listening to music. Really, it doesn't make a difference unless you look. Sure, you might hear the car before you walk but if you cross safely in the first place, you won't NEED to hear the car.
If anything, it's mostly the driver's fault... that said, I watched a 12 year old get hit in September because she didn't look both ways... and she wasn't listening to music.
I never remove my headphones when I cr...
Thats hilarious!
Is it a good idea to protect people that don't look before crossing? later these same fools will be in cars killing others, or voting in idiots who send out the army to do so, it might better to cull the fools.
I don't see the problem: I'm crossing the road while commenting on Enga...
Or they could just try and slow traffic down. Make streets and crossways more pedestrian friendly.
Dead and iPod intact? You know why he's dead? Apple's obselette police shot him down.
Is that an iPod Photo?
someone pls tell them to update their ipods.
in my observations it ain't the music so much as people being totally engrossed in the screen of their device, be it Internet, google maps, picking the next tune to spin or playing their PSP.
When I was in NY a few weeks back I often thought there were going to be an epidemic of people getting killed while wrapped in the display of their handheld gizmo.
iDied
Honestly, there's something to be said for this. Noise-cancelling or otherwise deafening headphones obviously shouldn't be worn in environments where you're going to be run over or crushed by otherwise audible devices or creatures - it's called common sense. I recommend these:
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-MDR-Q22LP-Headphones-Interchangeable-Headphone/dp/B00008VIX2/ref=pd_sxp_grid_pt_1_2
it looks like the kid is hugging the ground and some jerk threw an outdated iPod at him.
Hmm, maybe he's ducking as to not get hit by incoming old hardware.
I got a real groundbreaking idea here.
1) Walk to the intersection.
2) Press the button thingy.
3) Wait. Listen to iPOD while waiting.
4) When you see the symbol that looks like some dude walking (maybe they should redo them to look like a dude where an iPOD), LOOK around... then start walking.
5) WHILE walking across the intersection, keep looking around.
What a concept huh!?
Just wasted money on an advertisement, when they should be advertising to these walking Darwin awards that should ONLY cross at the intersections when it is safe to do so.
I mean, even BLIND and DEAF people can cross at intersections every single day without getting hit.
Apparently it's STUPID people that are getting hit.
I never thought an iPod would aid human to evolve to the next level. They are apparently weeding out the weak, leaving the stronger? Smarter? I don't know what word best finishes that sentence, but you get the idea. It's surprising that an inanimate, and now inorganic...thing...is so effective at killing "intelligent" organisms.
what a misconception of the truth, the iPod in the ad is an early generation, the newer iPods have this bug ironed out
My wife and I were in Australia for three weeks a couple of years ago, and she almost got killed twice crossing the street. Not because she was wearing headphones, but because as North Americans, it is really difficult to remember to look the "wrong" direction when crossing the street. Thirty years of habit are hard to break!
If you are going to die, why not die a stylish death with an iPod by your side.