Volkswagen’s Buckle Up Campaign- The Children’s Edutainment Series is Back

Volkswagen has a YouTube series educating children on road and car safety. This is an initiative of VPCM’s social responsibility commitment. As such, the Malaysian distributor for Volkswagen cars, Volkswagen Passenger Cars Malaysia (VPCM), has kicked-off the Buckle Up YouTube animation series for children. The introduction is embedded below, and the rest can be found at the link posted at the end of this article.

This Buckle Up campaingn is part of the brand’s social responsibility here in Malaysia, the YouTube series aims to educate the younger generation on the importance of road and car safety. It also brings online the Volkswagen mascot, who is a familiar face and adored by children (and also 40+ year old kids) at roadshows and events. 

The series is specifically targeted at children aged between three to seven years old, the content is communicated in a fun and entertaining way and covers topics such as how to cross the road, understanding traffic lights and the importance of wearing a seatbelt. 

Of course, since this is Malaysia, the series can also be used to educate adults who somehow forget traffic light and seat belt regulations too. Yes, that's you okay, the chap who lets his wife hold their 4 year old kid on her lap and not buckling up the kid in a child safety seat. So it is suitable for all ages here actually, especially for those stubborn and lazy adults who flaunt road safety regulations and putting their kids at risk.

“As a responsible brand, we are socially accountable to our stakeholders and the public - at the same time not forgetting the little ones. It is never too early for us to teach children how to keep safe, and we believe that in the long run, this will help them develop the right attitude and behaviour on the road. Of course, with children being more internet- savvy, the perfect avenue to communicate this is online” said Erik Winter, Managing Director of VPCM.

Why is this type of social responsibility initiatives important you may ask?

Well, the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) reported that road accidents are the fourth common cause of death in Malaysia, and more than 1,500 children under the age of 10 has died in road accidents from 2007 to 2017. Last year, Malaysia had the third highest fatality from road accidents in Asia, behind Thailand and Vietnam. 

Imagine, Malaysia supposedly has better road and highway infrastructure than the two countries mentioned, but we are still third. Other less developed countries in Southeast Asia should be ahead of us in this time. Nothing to be proud about being third here folks.

Volkswagen first launched the Buckle Up Campaign in 2015 and partnered with the Association of Registered Child Care Providers Malaysia or PPBM to educate the general public on the importance of child passenger safety through training modules across 280 childcare centres nationwide. Since then, Volkswagen has constantly communicated child safety through training modules to dealers at the Volkswagen Academy, to customers and owners via dealership events and on social media platforms.

The Volkswagen Buckle Up campaign series is available on Volkswagen’s YouTube channel here -. Parents are encouraged to subscribe to receive the latest updates and notifications when new episodes are added.