Paula F. Downey
President
American Automobile Association
5705 S. Harrison Blvd
Ogden, UT 84403

Dear Paula Downey,

I am a member of America Services PR, a growing non-profit organization specializing in creating public service announcements. America Services PR is campaigning for revolutionizing views on texting and driving. We invite you to be a part of our cause by sponsoring $2 million to create and air an influential and memorable PSA. This will benefit AAA by extensive advertising while encouraging a good cause.

AAA is the first company we asked to participate in this campaign because of its advocacy in car and traffic safety. AAA's previous sponsorship for the Lesbian and Gay Film Festival allowed for some advertising, but sponsoring this PSA will allow AAA to be nationally recognized and encourage a cause closely related to the mission. The partnership will publicize to customers and the nation that the association is endevoring to prevent tragedies instead of merely cleaning up after. This is apparent from AAA's mission statement stating, "To promote health care policies that ensure excellence in the ambulance services industry and provide research, education and communications programs to enable its members to effectively address the needs of the communities they serve." As AAA serves more than 75% of the US population, reputation is crucial.

The current problem we both face is texting and driving. 80% of all crashes in the US are caused by distracted driving. Almost 50% of drivers between the ages of 18 and 24 text and drive. Each year, 21% of fatal car crashes involving teenagers result from cell phone usage. This result has been expected to grow as much as 4% each year. Educating the public of texting and driving risks would be exponentially beneficial for AAA. Prevention of car accidents would decrease costs AAA spends responding to those accidents while resulting in revenue increase. By sponsoring the PSA, the association strives to its end goal of serving and educating the US population. Too many drivers do not understand the repercussions of texting and driving and the public must be persuaded to change their behavior through this PSA.

Our approach to this problem of texting and driving is to educate the public by creating a bold televised PSA. The PSA storyboard we created shows a newly married couple drifting off the road when the driver begins to text. The couple has a head-on collision resulting in a dramatic pileup. We will cement the consequences of distracted driving in a driver’s mind, causing them to think twice before texting and driving. We will create a simple but emotional radio PSA telling the story of an automobile death caused by texting. The radio PSA will be especially effective, causing an instanteneous reminder to drivers listening on the road. It will close the gap between today's casual drivers and a horrifying reality.

America Services PR is the most promising organization for this campaign because of previous experiences we had with successful PSA's. An example of a previous PSA America Services PR organized is the United Kingdom’s Texting While Driving PSA. Shown in schools as part of a 30 minute deterrent workshop for texting and driving, it is described as “effective, violent and bloody.” Since the feedback was what we desired, America Services PR will use similar tactics for the United States, likely producing similar results. One member of our company has assisted in directing many PSAs and holds important knowledge of graphic elements needed to give the strongest impact. We worked with skilled stuntmen and cameramen in the UK PSA. America Services PR has built a relationship with these companies and already discussed terms for creating a new PSA. They gave us a generous offer, putting AAA's sponsored dollars to the best use. Our plan is to air the PSA on television in the evening resulting in high viewership of adults and teenagers. The PSA will be most effective if shown in Driver’s Education courses, as well as in the Department of Motor Vehicles to educate waiting patrons.

As previously stated, we ask AAA to sponsor America Services PR $2 million. We broke down each cost. The estimated finances needed to create a multi-car crash is $500 thousand in parts. Camerawork will cost $150 thousand. Stuntmen will cost around $100 thousand. For special effects a team estimated $200 thousand. Running the PSA during the evenings estimates to $1 million for advertising time. Lastly we estimate $50 thousand to distribute the PSA to schools and DMVs. If it is more appealing to AAA we have considered splitting a sponsorship with other companies incorporating similar goals or relations, such as Allstate Insurance. The audience and impact of this PSA is limitless and we would like to give AAA the opportunity to first decide if they solely would like the partnership recognition.

America Services PR plans to start filming January 2010 and airing the PSA in March. In order to accomplish this goal please let us know your interest by Dec. 15. If more details are requested please use the information below to contact me. Thank you for your time. We hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely,



Amanda Running
President
America Services PR
amandarunning@americaservicespr.com
435-555-3941

America Services PR
392 E. 9000 N.
Logan, UT 84321