Drive Smarter Challenge Winner's announced!

For Further Information
For Immediate Release


Rozanne Weissman 202-530-2217; rweissman@ase.org
    

 

 

4 Wacky Yet Enlightening Videos Highlighting Money-Saving Gas Tips 'Walk
Off' with Top Prizes In Drive Smarter Challenge Video Contest

 

- Making Fuel Efficiency Fun -

 

- http://DriveSmarterChallenge.org/contest
<http://DriveSmarterChallenge.org/contest>  -

 

Washington, D.C, October 28, 2009 - Don't you loathe those irritating,
know-it-all backseat drivers - unless, of course, you're the smart,
knowledgeable one in the backseat?  Playing off that concept in
"Backseat Smart Driver," David Markus of Beverly Hills, Calif., walked
off with the $5,000 grand prize in the Drive Smarter Challenge campaign
video contest. His video features two buddies preparing to carpool who
get fuel-efficiency tips from a dictatorial backseat driver looking over
their shoulders.

 

Video contest entrants took highly creative approaches to tickle
viewers' funny bones and illustrate driving and vehicle maintenance tips
<http://drivesmarterchallenge.org/money-saving-tips/Default.aspx>  that
increase vehicle fuel efficiency and help motorists spend less on
gasoline
(http://drivesmarterchallenge.org/money-saving-tips/Default.aspx). 

 

"At an early age," reveals Markus, "my father gave me tips to drive more
efficiently - accelerate slowly, inflate tires - so when I started
filming, I already knew most of the tips. My friends actually tease that
I 'drive like a grandma.'" The freelance videographer and aspiring film
director plans to use his contest winnings, donated by campaign partner
ExxonMobil, to "develop my skills as a director and photographer and
purchase lighting equipment and camera lenses."

 

Public voting determined the four contest prizewinners from among the
top 10 finalists. Like many of the others, Markus reached out to
supportive friends, family, and colleagues through Facebook and e-mails.
Although the contest drew entries from across the country, Californians
walked off with the prizes. The remaining prizes go to:

*	Second Place: "Car Pooling" by Alec Wells, a freelance script
reader in Los Angeles, who highlights the opportunity to save $180
annually by carpooling twice a week - in this case, with an amorous
couple smooching in the back seat while an irritated friend  chauffeurs
them. Next time, the "chauffeur" (actually played by Alec) vows, he's
taking the Metro! His second-place entry wins him a VIP Indy Racing
League Package which includes two tickets and two garage/pit lane passes
to an Indy race event, plus a test high-speed ride in an Indy-style, bio
ethanol-fueled, two-seater
<http://www.bryanhertaautosport.com/wp-content/themes/airplane/images/2s
eater.jpg>  race car with a pro-driver.  

 

 

"How cool is that!" exclaims Wells about the prize donated by Indy team
Bryan Herta Autosport. Wells is taking with him his friend Chris, one of
the video's smooching "carpoolers," who is also part of his sketch
comedy team, The Outside Joke, a YouTube partner.  He entered the
contest because "I believe in the cause - it's not shallow." Wells
explains that he chose the carpooling topic and unique approach "because
it's provocative, quick, and made us laugh."

 

*	Third Place: "Driving $mart: 3 Easy Tips" by Arturo Morales, a
part-time teachers' assistant and aspiring filmmaker residing in
Paramount, Calif., spotlights a child inflating tires, throwing junk
from the trunk, and checking the air filter, all set to up-beat music.
He wins a VIP NASCAR Race Package, which includes two tickets and two
garage/pit passes to a NASCAR race event. 

 

"The video was fairly spontaneous," says Morales, a recent UC Santa
Barbara graduate in film and media studies who recruited his nephew for
the child's role. "I selected tips that are easy to do and reached out
to my international friends from school and friends on Facebook to
vote." 

 

*	Fourth Place: In "A Smarter GPS" by Andy Anderson of San Diego,
a flirty driver momentarily forgets he's married and becomes enamored
with the "woman" behind his GPS system's tantalizing voice. Anderson
claims the Transportation Efficiency Package, including four Michelin
Energy Saver All Season Tires (or comparable tires for his vehicle), a
one-year AAA membership donated by Rubber Manufacturers Association's Be
Tire Smart, and two memberships in the Silver Spoke League of American
Bicyclists.

 

As it turns out, Anderson's prize could not have been timelier. "I
really need new tires!" he notes.  He reports that he called the actor
in his video right away with the good news. "It's going to be hard to
split the tires," he chuckles, "but we will figure something out."
Producing the video was a family experience, he says, as his children
and wife got involved with the filming. "My son actually did some of the
filming in the back seat.  The video contest was a very educational
process. We realized our trunk was full of beach chairs and other things
so we dumped it out in the middle of filming." 

 

The four winning videos can be viewed at
http://drivesmarterchallenge.org/contest, and the campaign's
fuel-efficiency tips and other resources are available on the main Drive
$marter Challenge website: http://drivesmarterchallenge.org. The 10
finalist videos are on the Alliance to Save Energy's YouTube channel,
which will ultimately feature all 65 contest videos.

 

The online contest is a feature of the award-winning Drive Smarter
Challenge <http://www.drivesmarterchallenge.org>  fuel-efficiency
campaign created and managed by the Alliance to Save Energy and
sponsored by 16 additional diverse nonprofit, governmental, trade
association, and for-profit partners
<http://drivesmarterchallenge.org/about-the-campaign/partners.aspx> .  

 

"We are thrilled that the Drive Smarter Challenge video contest drew so
many imaginative, entertaining entries," says Alliance to Save Energy
President Kateri Callahan.  "The contest was a new, fun way to spread
our campaign's message - that drivers can empower themselves to lower
their vehicle fuel costs.  Kudos to both the winners and the other 61
entrants!"  Callahan also thanked all of the prize donors and campaign
partners.

 

Prizes were contributed by ExxonMobil, NASCAR, Bryan Herta Autosport,
the Rubber Manufacturers Association's Be Tire Smart, Michelin, the
League of American Bicyclists, and the Car Care Council.

 

The 17 Drive Smarter Challenge campaign partners include the Alliance to
Save Energy, American Petroleum Institute, American Public
Transportation Association, Bryan Herta Autosport, Car Care Council,
Citizens for Affordable Energy, Department of Energy's Oak Ridge
National Laboratory, ExxonMobil, Green Solutions Magazine, League of
American Bicyclists, NASCAR, National Association of Counties, National
Association of State Energy Officials, National Independent Auto Dealers
Association, National Fuel Funds Network, National Low Income Energy
Consortium, and Rubber Manufacturers Association's Be Tire Smart.  

 

 

###

 

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Alex DelSordo

Communications 

Alliance to Save Energy

1850 M Street, NW

Washington, DC 20036

(202) 530 - 2230

 

Support the Alliance to Save Energy through the Combined Federal
Campaign (CFC# 11783) or donate online <http://ase.org/section/_donate>
.