Fake funeral home advertises with ‘text and drive’ billboards

“Text and drive,” the billboard for Wathan Funeral Home proclaims, encouraging drivers to engage in the deadly practice to give it more business.

But those who saw the unsavory ad on Toronto’s Gardiner Expressway and went to the company’s website didn’t find what they anticipated.

“If you're here, you've probably seen our ‘Text and Drive’ billboard. And if you have, you probably came to this website to tell us what horrible people we are for running an ad like that. And you'd be right,” the website reads. “It is a horrible thing for a funeral home to do. But we're not a funeral home.”

The billboard is in fact a public service announcement produced by a Toronto ad agency aimed at raising awareness of the dangers of texting and driving. The simplicity of the ad was designed to grab attention, rather than a billboard cluttered with statistics about traffic fatalities.

“What it’s trying to say, and I think it’s saying very clearly, is texting and driving kills,” Angus Tucker, a creative director at the agency, told the Toronto Star. “The challenge is: How do you say it in a way that actually makes people think about the consequences?”

The website claims that texting drivers are 23 times more likely to be involved in a crash, and that fatalities from texting and driving in Canada are set to eclipse those from drinking and driving as early as next year.

“And while most people wouldn't even think about drinking and driving, over half of Ontario drivers admit to reading texts while behind the wheel,” the website says.

In the U.S., 46 states and the District of Columbia ban texting while driving. One-third of drivers admit to texting while driving, with men more likely to engage in the practice than women. Younger drivers are also more prone to text behind the wheel.

This story was originally published May 20, 2016 at 11:25 AM with the headline "Fake funeral home advertises with ‘text and drive’ billboards."