A clothing accessory to be immediately worn by any driver after "having to leave a vehicle immobilized on the road or in its surroundings following an emergency stop", according to the French Road Code. The lack of a yellow safety vest and the reflective triangle in the car endures a fine of 135 euros.
To popularize these safety clothing, an advertising campaign appealed to Karl Lagerfeld himself, who appeared dressed in a vest of this type along with the text: "It's yellow, it's ugly, it does not work but it can save your life." The campaign debuted on June 18, 2008, as part of a driver awareness campaign entitled "Vest and Triangle", made by Lowe Stratus and received a prize in the same year. The campaign has also been successful abroad, especially because of the concept: joining a symbol of elegance with a humble, banal, ugly but useful object can save lives. It's a "disruption" advertising technique that consists of the combination of two elements, two universes that seem incompatible to mark the consumer, and which is often used in recent years by advertisers.
The campaign involving Karl Lagerfeld had an urban display component and radio messages that were broadcast by generalist posts. French sociologists also explain why the yellow vest was chosen as the protest uniform. The yellow vest has been estimated to be the most appropriate: protests have started around raising car tax. The idea was to wear yellow vests with reflective tapes to attract attention, to signal danger, to symbolize salvation. Even more pragmatic, it is a color that no one used (including in the political spectrum), which was available. The irony is that the state, which has imposed the obligation of the yellow vest, is now being challenged in France, the protesters sharing this fashion accessory as a common denominator.
2024 ©