Rules

Your Mission: Create a video EITHER exactly :25 or exactly :55 seconds.

Your Audience: Young drivers who are new to the road.

Your Topic: Stop distracted driving. And like drivers, videos are better when they are focused, so pick one type of distraction as the subject of your video: Texting while driving, e-mailing while driving, social media while driving, or anything else someone does with their thumbs and their phone instead of keeping their hands on the wheel.  Please note that whatever you choose to focus on, you should not include logos or branding – or mention of logos or branding – in your video, design, or radio spot.

Why: Prevent serious car crashes and deaths.

How: You have creative license. Just be sure it's in good taste and that you DON'T film yourself or anyone else driving while distracted. See FAQ and Official Rules.

No entry will be accepted with footage of a person ACTUALLY texting while driving! But there are ways to get around it. See FAQ. Videos are limited to EITHER exactly 25 seconds or exactly 55 seconds. If your video is selected as a winner and is distributed as an Ad Council PSA, we will add on a 5 second end frame to make the full video 30 or 60 seconds. You must be a high school junior or senior between the ages of 14 and 20; or a full-time undergraduate college student between the ages of 15 and 25, to participate. If you are under 18, your parent or legal guardian must sign an eligibility form (we will contact you).

Video Guidelines

  • All persons (even animated characters or objects) must wear seat belts.
  • Avoid all branding in submissions, even in the background of footage (i.e. product logos or store logos, like McDonald's or Starbucks.)
  • Make sure voices can be clearly heard if using dialogue.
  • If filming from a smart phone, shoot footage horizontally.
  • Film should be your personal cretion; do not use stock video or photos.

For a full list of rules, please read the Official Rules. Please keep all your unused video footage taken during the making of your film. If you are the winning entry, the Ad Council will need the footage in case it turns your video into a broadcast quality PSA. Please note that all original footage filmed must be broadcast quality. To ensure this, please use the following guidelines while filming: The use of a consumer or “prosumer” camera, preferably high-definition (HD) quality; Film resolution for all footage must be at least 720 x 480; If an iPhone or some form of a flip camera is used, shoot footage horizontally, not vertically; Overall, please select the highest resolution possible with any camera use.

Judging Criteria

  • Ability to capture the attention of others, specifically, the attention of your peers.
  • Persuade others to alter driving habits. Your film must resonate with teens and young adults and move them to action.
  • Clarity of message - it must be understandable and well-structured.
  • Creative expression - put your personal stamp on it.
  • Video should be of good production quality.

Submitting Your Application Submit your video along with your contact information on or before April 1, 2018. We will not accept entries after that date. Don't wait until the last minute.

Finalists will be notified late May 2018 and will be chosen based on criteria provided in the application. Winners will be chosen and announced on the website in June 2018. The winning video will be selected by our celebrity judges and Project Yellow Light along with associates from the Ad Council, Mazda, National Organizations for Youth Safety (NOYS), U-Haul, The Martin Agency, and a select group of experts.

All the videos will become property of Project Yellow Light/Hunter Garner Scholarship. We request this so we may use your video to promote safe driving to a broader audience and draw attention to this important topic. We may also share your video on the website or other digital platform (whether you’re the winner of the scholarship or not). We are hoping to share these messages with young adults across the country.

Application

Be sure to set the Privacy to "Unlisted"

Rules

Your Mission: Create a design for a billboard advertisement to encourage safe driving.

Your Audience: Young drivers who are new to the road.

Your Topic: Stop distracted driving; specifically texting while driving. And, like drivers, billboards are better when they are focused and without a lot of clutter. Please limit your design to a clear image with 7 words or less.

Why: Prevent car crashes and deaths.

How: You have creative license. Just be sure your work is in good taste. Please look here for Clear Channel Outdoor best practices guide for tips on making effective outdoor advertising.

If your entry is selected, your work may be turned into a professional public service billboard by the Ad Council and shown on billboards across the U.S. courtesy of Clear Channel Outdoor. You must be a high school junior or senior or full-time undergraduate college student to participate. If you are under 18, your parent or legal guardian must sign an eligibility form (we will contact you for this info).

For a full list of rules, please read the Official Rules. Please keep all your artwork files; if you are the winning entrant, the Ad Council and Clear Channel Outdoor will need your native files to turn your artwork into a professional billboard. Please use these specifications for creating your work:

Design Specs:

Outdoor Design Guidelines Designs must:

  • Be a horizontal image
  • Be original
  • Make an effort to follow outdoor advertising best practices
  • Not include road signage or any color/font schemes that imitate official road signals or traffic direction or may be confused as such
  • Not use any design elements that are not of your creation (i.e. stock photos, emojis, Apple branding, etc...)
  • All persons (even animated characters or objects) must wear seat belts.
  • If you are taking a photo to use as the visual in your design, please be sure that you are using the highest resolution possible on your camera/phone since the final design will be scaled to billboard size.
  • You can create your own message or tagline, remember to keep overall word count to around 7 words or less. Do not include a logo on your design; if your submission is selected as the winning entry, we will add the appropriate logos.
  • Please look here for examples of effective billboard ads.

Judging Criteria

  • Ability to capture the attention of others, specifically, the attention of your peers. Persuade others to alter driving habits. Your design must resonate with teens and young adults and move them to action.
  • Clarity of message – it must be understandable and well-structured.
  • Creative expression – put your personal stamp on it and make it unique.
  • Your design should be of good production quality.

Submitting Your Application

Submit your design along with your contact information on or before March 1, 2018. We will not accept entries after that date.

Finalists will be notified by June 2018 and will be chosen based on the criteria provided in the application. Winners will be announced in June, and will also be showcased on our website at that time. The winning design will be selected by our celebrity judges and Project Yellow Light along with associates from the Ad Council, iHeartRadio, Clear Channel Outdoor, Mazda, National Organizations for Youth Safety and U-Haul, and a select group of experts.

Application

Max 10MB, .jpg

Rules

Your Mission: Create a radio recording exactly 20 seconds.

Your Audience: Young drivers who are new to the road.

Your Topic: Stop distracted driving. And, like drivers, radio advertisements are better when they are focused and clearly communicate your message. We ask that you concentrate on the concerns and consequences of using a mobile device while driving.

Why: Prevent serious car crashes and deaths.

How: You have creative license; just be sure your submission is in good taste. Please look here for inspiration. Also, please review the iHeartRadio best practices guide here for tips on making effective radio advertising.

If your entry is selected, your work will be turned into a professional public service radio ad by the Ad Council and aired on radio stations across the U.S. courtesy of iHeartRadio. You must be a high school junior or senior or a full-time undergraduate college student to participate. If you are under 18, your parent or legal guardian must sign an eligibility form (we will contact you for this information).

For a full list of rules, please read the Official Rules. Please keep all your unused recording taken during the making of your soundtrack.

Recording Specifications:

  • You must not include any brand names of products, etc. in your submission (e.g. Ford, iPhone).
  • Submit spots that are exactly 20 seconds long, but please extend the stock music, background noise/audio, sound effects, etc., for an additional ten seconds. The Ad Council will be adding a 10 second voiceover endtag to the end of your spot (thus, creating an entire 30 second radio PSA)
  • Since the winning work may play as people are driving, please do not include noises or dialogue that could be distracting to drivers. This includes, but is not limited to, loud noises, car crash sound effects, etc...
  • Please use music provided on this site or that you otherwise have the express permission to use.
  • All audio files must be .mp3, .wav or .aiff format, outputted as 2-channel Stereo. Audio in other formats will not be accepted. (Please see accepted audio files on chart below.)
    MP3WAVAIFF
    Bitrate128 to 320 kbps
    		UncompressedUncompressed
    Sample Rate44.1 or 48 khz44.1 or 48 khz44.1 or 48 khz
    Bits/SampleN/A
    		16 or 24 bitN/A
    Audio Channel2 CH Stereo
    		2 CH Stereo2 CH Stereo
  • All entries must have a transcript included with the entry.
  • Be original
  • Make an effort to follow radio recording best practices

TIPS FOR RECORDING RADIO: 

  • Please refrain from using a cell phone (e.g. iPhone) to record your radio ad because the quality will be jeopardized. Professional grade equipment/software is best: Adobe Audition, Audacity, Soundtrack Pro, etc. Please check with your school’s library or local library to see if you can borrow this equipment.
  • If recording in multiple locations/studios, please be mindful of the background noise, since it could be captured in your recording. The clearer the audio, the better. Too many noises and sound effects can distract or confuse the listener.

Other tips found online (may be helpful for those new to recording radio):

https://www.strategicmediainc.com/newsroom/top-ten-keys-creating-great-radio-ads

http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Radio-Ad

Judging Criteria

  • Ability to capture the attention of others, specifically, the attention of your peers.
  • Persuade others to alter driving habits. Your recording must resonate with teens and adults and move them to action.
  • Clarity of message – it must be understandable and well-structured.
  • Creative Expression – put your personal stamp on it.
  • Recording should be of good production quality

Submitting Your Application

Submit your recording along with contact information on or before April 1, 2018. We will not accept entries after that date. Don’t wait until the last minute.

Finalists will be notified May 2018 and will be chosen based on the criteria provided in the application. Winners will be chosen and announced on the website by June 2018. The winning radio spot will be selected by our celebrity judges and Project Yellow Light along with associates from the Ad Council, iHeartRadio, Mazda, NHTSA, National Organizations for Youth Safety and U-Haul.

This scholarship is made possible by the generosity of iHeartRadio. Should we receive an unacceptable number of creditable entries, we reserve the rights to select no finalists.

Application

Max 10MB, .mp3, .wav, or .aiff