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The same holy shrines in Lebanon where candles are lit to remember their loved ones killed in road accidents, are now lighting dark roads to save lives in a novel campaign called “Shrine Saviors.”
Lebanon is facing a severe energy crisis, resulting in only a couple of hours of electricity per day. This is especially dangerous on mountain roads, where streetlights are mostly unlit, and thousands have lost their lives at fatal curves and bends in the dark. Lebanon now has the highest rate of car accident victims per capita in the world, and the government is doing nothing to protect drivers on roads.
Hundreds of religious memorials and shrines dot mountain roads, in memory of those who have lost their lives in accidents. It is a common local custom for Lebanese families to erect a shrine at a crash site where these fatal road accidents took place.
To not only bring government attention to the fact that there are more shrines on the roads than safety measures in all of Lebanon, but also to provide a workable solution to reduce road accidents, two brands have gotten together to launch a very powerful campaign.
Yokohama Tire has collaborated with Roads for Life, a Lebanese NGO concerned with road safety awareness and increasing post-accident survival rates, and, in partnership with IMPACT BBDO, launched an initiative that has converted holy shrines as a powerful one-of-a-kind out-of-home activation.
“Shrine Saviors” revolves around hooking solar panels to existing shrines as roofing, lighting up the roads from the very spots where the lethal car accidents took place. What was once a venue to remember those who passed away is now an active protection zone for those alive. Candles that once burned soft light in these shrines have evolved into a powerful beam that lights up a dangerous dark curve.
A film published online announced the campaign, showcasing emotive testimonials of families who lost members in the ‘valley of the skulls’: a valley of perilous roads with shrines dispersed all over its bends. Victim’s family members arrived on site, expressing the pain of their loss from the spots where many took their last breath. A priest blessed these shrines, corroborating the initiative’s aims and expressing his appreciation for the campaign.
In a remarkable assimilation, the activation seamlessly merged an awareness campaign for road safety that aims to illuminate these mountainous paths, making them safe to drive through in the night, with honoring those who passed, their memory lighting the way for others to avoid a similar fate. The initiative is calling for donations, whereby every donation covers the cost to light up one shrine, illuminating one section of a bend and turning roads of death into roads for life.
