The encyclopedia · Software & IT · Technical decision · 2015
Samsung's Safety Truck showed overtakers the road ahead; seven Lions followed
A cab camera streamed the road ahead onto four rear screens so drivers could overtake safely; the prototype won seven Cannes Lions, including a Titanium.
Samsung
the move
On Argentina's two-lane roads, a large share of serious crashes happened when drivers overtook trucks without seeing what was coming. Leo Burnett Argentina's first idea — turning two-lane roads into four-lane highways — was far beyond the budget, so the team scaled it down to the truck itself.
Samsung built the Safety Truck with tech partner Ingemática: a wireless camera on the cab and four exterior monitors on the trailer rear streamed the road ahead live. Following drivers saw what the truck driver saw, day or night, and the screens warned of accidents, breakdowns or animals.
The campaign's video drew nearly two million YouTube views, and Volvo and trailer-maker Helvetica approached the agency to develop the idea further. Cannes 2015 gave the work seven Lions — including Argentina's first Cyber Lion and a Titanium Lion.
why it works
- It fixed the information asymmetry that caused crashes instead of asking drivers to change habits.
- The technology was already on the shelf, so the prototype was cheap enough to actually build and test.
- A visible, working truck proved the idea better than any film could, which is why the story travelled.
what transfers
When the problem is an information gap, solve it with information: off-the-shelf cameras and screens beat infrastructure spending, and a working prototype makes the idea undeniable.
what came after
Samsung said the prototype was no longer operational but confirmed the technology worked. The concept drew global attention and continued development interest from transport companies, becoming a reference for using existing hardware to solve road-safety information gaps.
references
- The Safety-Truck by Leo Burnett Buenos Aires made history in Cannes 2015
- Transparent trailer continues making waves
- Samsung creates the transparent truck
spotted an error? The archive wants to know.