'Unstoppable' Bald AFL Players Assemble to Highlight Road Safety for Continental Tyres

Continental Tyres and TBWA\Eleven Melbourne have today announced the launch of the Continental Tyres Bald Stars – a team of legendary bald AFL players with the sole mission is to raise awareness of bald tyres.

The Continental Tyres Bald Stars team is made up of bald AFL greats past and present Barry Hall, Nathan Jones, and Bachar Houli, as well as Collingwood’s Steele Sidebottom and St Kilda’s Zak Jones and Paddy Ryder. This iconic exhibition team has been created to highlight the fact that bald is unstoppable – both on the field and on the road.

The initiative comes as new national research by Continental Tyres reveals that while 32% of Aussies believe it’s safer to drive to live sport (as opposed to using public transport), only 8% of those surveyed see unsafe or bald tyres as the biggest risk to their safety when driving. This is despite the fact that currently 1-in-3 Australians are driving on bald or unsafe tyres.

“The statistics are alarming. We want people to get to the football safely, particularly if you’ve got kids in the car. We encourage all Australians to get their tyres checked regularly to ensure safety on our roads – especially as we approach winter and conditions get wetter,” says Barry Hall, Continental Tyres Bald Star.

Furthermore, Aussies will spend over 5 million hours* on the road travelling to live sporting events each month. Close to one-third (28%) of those travelling to sport will spend 15–30 minutes on the road before reaching their destination.

Examining the ways in which Aussies travel to and from sport, findings revealed that over half of Aussie sport fans (53%) choose to drive themselves, rather than taking the train (25%) or getting a lift (10%). This figure increases to 57% when it is raining or wet – meaning almost 6-in-10 Aussies will drive in unsafe road conditions to get to their regular sporting events.

“Creating the Continental Tyres Bald Stars campaign has been incredibly fun, however, there is an undoubtedly important safety message underpinning the initiative. We’re proud to leverage our sponsorship with the AFL for the second year to raise awareness of tyre safety,” says Mitchel Golledge, Continental Tyres managing director.

To support the initiative, Continental Tyres has partnered with Youthsafe, a charity that educates young drivers on road safety. The Bald Stars players’ limited-edition signed jerseys are available for purchase to support this initiative. All money raised will be donated to Youthsafe, and Continental Tyres will match every donation. Jerseys can be purchased at www.baldstars.com.au.