Honda ad campaign in US urges affected car owners to replace Takata airbag inflators

Honda has initiated a new voluntary consumer information advertising campaign urging Honda and Acura owners to immediately check for open recalls and safety improvement campaigns, and to take affected vehicles to an authorised dealer for free repair as soon as possible. This new effort builds on the comprehensive approach Honda has taken to identify, locate and contact registered owners with vehicles included in one or more recalls to replace Takata airbag inflators.

"The goals of this campaign are to save lives and prevent injuries," said John Mendel, executive vice-president of the Automobile Division of American Honda Motor Co., Inc. "Honda hopes that this new consumer information campaign will bolster our existing and continuing efforts to reach our customers and maximize the vehicle repair completion rates associated with recalls to replace Takata airbag inflators. These ads are a strong call to action from our company designed to break through the clutter, grab the attention of customers driving affected vehicles, and urge that they get required repairs as soon as possible," said Mendel.

The consumer information campaign includes a multi-million dollar advertising push that will begin on Monday, March 16. Full-page, colour advertisements will appear in more than 120 newspapers, while 30-second radio announcements will air in more than 110 markets. In addition, sponsored, customised Facebook posts that mention the specific vehicle owned by each identified user will appear on owners' timelines, in an additional effort to capture attention and encourage owners to take action. The newspaper and radio advertisements will appear in Spanish or English to match the primary language of each targeted media outlet.

The advertising campaign will prioritise the 11 states and U.S. territories that have been identified by Honda as representing the greatest risk to affected owners. These geographic areas expand on the four states and territories (Florida, Hawaii, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico) that the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Takata initially targeted based on the consistent high absolute humidity levels present in those regions. It is believed that high absolute humidity contributes to a greater risk of inflator rupture in certain older-model Takata front airbags.

Since initiating the first Takata airbag inflator recall in 2008, Honda has distributed millions of mailed notifications to registered owners in English and Spanish, but many vehicles included in these recalls remain unrepaired. Unfortunately, it is estimated that one-third of all recalled vehicles in the U.S. are never repaired. The problem is more prevalent among older model vehicles.