The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) National Operations Center for Water Safety in cooperation with the Corps of Engineers Natural Resources Education Foundation (The Corps Foundation) developed the Life Jackets WornNobody Mourns campaign. The campaign targets adults, primarily adult males. Over the past ten years (2012-2021) 88 percent of USACE public recreation fatalities were male, 87 percent were age 18 and older, and 89 percent were not wearing life jackets. The activity that caused the most (47%) public recreation fatalities was swimming in areas not designated for swimming, 15% of the 47% were swimming in association with boats. The second leading cause were from falls from boats, docks, and shorelines (21%).
Input from the target audience of adult males was used to develop this campaign. The input received identified how to more effectively communicate and attract the attention of adult males. Reaching this target audience with messages about the importance of wearing life jackets has been a challenge over the years. Part of the problem is that many are unaware that the new styles of life jackets are comfortable and easy to care for. Also, most do not perceive calm water as a risk, and they are unaware of the reasons why even good swimmers can drown from falls overboard or how easy it is to overestimate their swimming abilities.
Campaign materials including the logo, video and audio PSAs, posters, and artwork for billboards, banners, vinyl tailgate wraps, publication ads, etc. can be found on the National Water Safety Programs website https://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Recreation/National-Water-Safety_Program/, which PleaseWearIt.com redirects to.
The National Water Safety Programs social media pages on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are managed in cooperation with The Corps Foundation. These social media pages are used primarily to promote the Life Jackets WornNobody Mourns campaign. You are encouraged to share the posts or use the assets on the pages to create your own posts.
The Life Jacket Video Contest is conducted in conjunction with the Life Jackets WornNobody Mourns campaign in cooperation with The Corps Foundation. https://www.lifejacketvideocontest.com
USACE employees are not eligible to enter the video contest and USACE funds cannot be used to create an entry. USACE employees can assist anyone that is wanting to enter the contest by reviewing their script and providing props and guidance on what would make a good video. Please promote this contest to your visitors, partners, schools, clubs, groups, colleges, and universities using the promotional products (social media image, flyer, and news release) that are on the contest website.
- Campaign Resource Guide
- Campaign Media Kit
