Why I want to work for the Danish Road Safety Council

Don't ask me how I found this on the internet. I stumbled.

This story is a year - year and half old. The Danish Road Safety Council launched a viral campaign designed to draw attention to the speed limits on Copenhagen roads. A short documentary (2 minutes 30 seconds) tells the world about the Speed Patrol Bikini Bandits, topless blondes who stand at the side of the road holding speed limit signs.

Take a look at it at Speed Bandits the Movie.

Spotlight on the World, a fictional RFSF news program, brings a story from Bart Sweeney in Copenhagen. “For years the Danes have had a tolerant and casual attitude towards just about everything - from sex, to drinking their beloved beer. Even to casual speeding. There is a positive trend. But seven out of ten motorists are still pushing the limit. But now the Danes seem to have become less tolerant of speeding motorists and they’ve come up with a rather innovative solution..."

Heidi Svendsen, head bandit says, “Sure what we do is extreme but I know from my heart what we are doing is working. People are slowing down. People are noticing. It’s a fantastic idea."

But the plan wasn’t entirely foolproof, says Sweeney. Brent Koch Hansen, Traffic Police, says, “In the beginning the Bikini Girls worked great. But let’s say it wasn’t entirely thought through.” One could argue that traffic in Copenhagen and much of Denmark has come to a total standstill, thus pushing the tolerance level of many Danes. A woman says to the camera, “I don’t like them and I know a lot of others that feel the same.” Heidi responds, “I couldn’t care less what anybody said. If people are slowing down we’ve done our jobs and since we’re the world’s best we will continue to do our jobs.”

The campaign was released on November 6, 2006 and has since been hosted on YouTube, blogs and other sites and viewed by thousands around the world. Credits The Bikini Bandit campaign was designed at Small But Global with filming directed by Peter Harton at Far From Hollywood, Copenhagen.