Acura Underscores Industry-leading Safety Performance with Emotional New Marketing Campaign

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TORRANCE, Calif., Oct. 15, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Acura has taken a safety leadership position as the only automotive brand to earn a 5-star Overall Vehicle Score in the NHTSA New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) and a TOP SAFETY PICK+ rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) across its entire model line¹. Based on the brand's commitment to the latest safety design and implementation of advanced safety and driver-assistive technology, Acura earned top overall safety ratings from the U.S. government and the IIHS across its model line. Acura will showcase its leadership in a new high impact and emotional national advertising campaign (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zzqtX514-Y&feature=youtu.be) highlighting the brand's dedication to safety performance.

"At Acura, safety has been a part of our engineering culture and DNA since the inception of the brand nearly 30 years ago, something affirmed by these industry-leading safety ratings," said Jon Ikeda, vice president and general manager, Acura division. "The national advertising campaign illustrates the passion we have for not only achieving safety leadership but also the motivation behind our safety efforts."

This is the second time in Acura history that the brand has achieved industry-leading safety status by earning the highest available ratings from both NHTSA and IIHS at the same time across in its lineup. In 2009, Acura was the first brand ever to simultaneously earn top safety ratings from NHTSA and IIHS across the model lineup. Additionally, Acura was the first automotive brand to introduce advanced driver-assistive technology to the luxury market by offering autonomous emergency braking (AEB) with the introduction of its Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS) on the 2006 Acura RL.

"Building upon the robust ACE^™ body structure, we have achieved a new level of occupant protection and with AcuraWatch^™ we help the driver mitigate, and at times avoid, collisions," said Chuck Thomas, chief engineer automotive safety, Honda R&D Americas, Inc. "Looking ahead, our research in advanced automated driving technology has the potential to help realize our dream of a collision-free mobile society, perhaps within the next few decades."

Acura safety leadership is further highlighted by the fact that the brand is the only automaker to offer all three advanced technology features (Front Collision Warning, Lane Departure Warning, and Rearview Camera) recommended by the NHTSA on all of its models, delivered in the AcuraWatch^™ suite of safety and driver-assistive technologies². Additionally, Acura is the only brand in the industry to receive the top rating of "Superior" across its model line¹ for its front crash prevention technology.

Acura's Safety Advertising Campaign

While other luxury automotive brands use close call scenarios and crash demonstrations to depict safety messages, Acura is taking a more emotional approach with its safety campaign by focusing on the brand's philosophy of putting people first. The initiative is the first emotionally-driven safety campaign for the brand.

In an integrated campaign, including :15, :30 and :60 spots; digital advertising and a dedicated landing page, the viewer sees an Acura engineer prepare for a controlled laboratory safety test and load human-like figures into an Acura MDX. The figures, a man; woman and two young children, are the engineer and his family. As the car accelerates, the camera cuts back inside the car to reveal the passengers have been traditional crash test dummies all along; the engineer envisioned the figures as his own family.

The spot cuts away from the safety test and displays the message: "When you don't think of them as dummies, something amazing happens." The spot ends by promoting the brand's achievement in earning top overall safety ratings across its entire model line.

"We wanted to capture how our Acura engineers believe safety transcends technology; it's really about putting people first," said Leila Cesario, national advertising manager, Acura division. "As safety is the third top purchase consideration for luxury buyers, an emotional campaign like this illustrates how important safety performance is for Acura and luxury buyers alike."

The campaign includes placement on national network and cable television, major web portals, video streaming and digital lifestyle verticals.  

For More Information

Consumer information is available at www.acura.com. To join the Acura community on Facebook, visit facebook.com/Acura. Additional media information including pricing, features and high-resolution photography is available at acuranews.com/channels/acura-automobiles.

About Acura

Acura offers a full line of precision crafted performance-luxury vehicles through a network of approximately 270 U.S. dealers. The Acura lineup features five distinctive models – the RLX luxury flagship sedan, the TLX performance luxury sedan, the ILX sport sedan, the 5-passenger RDX luxury crossover SUV, and the seven-passenger Acura MDX, America's all-time best-selling three-row luxury SUV. The next-generation Acura NSX mid-engine supercar will join the Acura lineup in the spring.  Acura was recently recognized by Edmunds.com for the fourth consecutive year as leading all luxury brands in retained value after five years of ownership.

¹ IIHS Top Safety Pick+ claim applies to 2016 model year vehicles except TLX, where only the 2015 TLX has been tested.  Government 5-Star Safety Ratings are part of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA's) New Car Assessment Program (www.SaferCar.gov).

² Information about crash avoidance technologies as part of the Government 5-Star Safety Ratings program can be found at www.SaferCar.gov.

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SOURCE Acura

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