The South Dakota Department of Public Safety stopped its "Don't Jerk and Drive" campaign after receiving criticisms for its double-meaning message.
"Don't Jerk and Drive" was a public safety campaign to increase awareness of the dangers of jerking behind the wheels on icy roads. Its name sounded catchy, but it attracted the attention of young drivers, mostly because of the the word "jerk" and its sexual double entendre meaning.
If you think that the name was an overshoot, officials said it was done on purpose. The hashtag #Don'tJerkandDrive went trending in social media and successfully caught the attention of more than 16,000 people during its first week, according to the Argus Leader
The intention was good, and some found it hilarious, but it seemed that some of the locals were not ready for the language and found the concept offensive.
"I think the intent clearly was ... when you start to go off the road; you should take your foot off the gas and gently go back on," said South Dakota Rep. Mike Verchio Verchio. "But it wasn't defended very well that way. When they say 'Yeah, there's some double-meaning there,' I think that was a terrible error in judgment."
Though the $100,000 campaign was considered effective in reaching out to the young drivers, the public safety officials decided to pull the campaign after receiving criticisms because of its double meaning.
"I decided to pull the ad," Trevor Jones, the secretary of the Department of Public Safety said in a statement obtained by the Argus Leader. "This is an important safety message and I don't want this innuendo to distract from our goal to save lives on the road."
The "Don't Jerk and Drive" campaign is not the first time that South Dakota made attention-grabbing public safety campaigns. As the Daily News recalls, it launched "Miss Information Pageant" for ATV safety advice and the "How to Snap a Sober Selfie" reminding people to stay sober and be designated drivers.
