There is little worse than when brands, companies, or otherwise official bodies try to 'do' pop culture, basically because it's lame and disingenuous, and corporations aren't people. (Except in the eyes of the United States Supreme Court apparently, but that's a whole other thing.)With this in mind: Iowa's Department of Transport recently tried a new way to get local motorists off their phones: they put Taylor Swift lyrics on road safety signs. The signs read "Old Taylor can't come to the phone… She's driving," and their accompanying tweet, to advertise their very funny and good idea, was sent with a photo of one of the signs. It stated "If you don't get the message today—ask the nearest millennial." Please just let me sleep forever.
On top of the fact that they are extremely lame (made worse by the fact that Iowa DOT thinks they are very clever indeed), it's also quite possible that the signs could have the opposite effect to the one they're trying to achieve. People might well be more inclined to use their phones upon seeing them, perhaps to take a photo or Snapchat. Seems kinda obvious for a bunch of experts in the habits of millennials, a group which uniformly adores Taylor Swift and avocados, you know?Follow Lauren on Twitter.