“Ride Aware. Show You Care.” Motorcycle Industry Council Inc. ad campaign
Kenny Stabler, notable for his 10-year career with the NFL’s Oakland Raiders, is featured here with his Houston Oilers team helmet – placing the date of this ad in 1980 or 1981 – when Stabler was with the Houston team.
Starting in 1979 (and continuing throughout the 1980s) the Motorcycle Industry Council launched their “Ride Aware. Show You Care.” public relations campaign [source]. Print media ads featured celebrities, sports figures, and motorcycle enthusiasts of the day, including Charles Bronson, Caitlyn Jenner, Lorenzo Lamas, Kent Howerton, Bobby and Al Unser, and American NFL quarterback Kenny Stabler.
Some of those ads, like this example from 1980/81, shouted “WHO CARES?” in large print across the top third of the page followed by a quote from the featured spokesperson warning the reader about the dangers of riding a motorcycle without protective gear. To quote Kenny Stabler from the ad:
I’d be laughed out of the stadium. Or carried out. Yet I see a lot of cyclists riding without even a helmet.
“Who Cares?” and “Ride Aware. Show You Care.” feature Futura Extra Bold Condensed Oblique. The body copy is set in Century Oldstyle Regular and Italic. The wordmark of the Motorcycle Industry Council uses Microgramma Bold Extended.
