The film takes place in a Viking village year 893, at a raiding party that is due to set sail to England. Before set off, the Viking leader; Svend is reminded to wear his helmet, but he announces to his co-Viking Hjalmar that he won’t be needing his helmet because it is too itchy, wrecks his hair and that he is a safe rider of horses, never falls off - exposing all the common justifications cyclists use as excuses to not wear a helmet. Excuses are exposed, repeated loud and clear yelling them to an army of Vikings far away. Svend’s son brings his helmet, but Svend keeps on, until his wife comes out commanding Svend to wear the helmet. He puts on the helmet and ride away, just to bang his head on the wooden exit of the Viking village. Message enters, Helmet has always been a good idea.
Cultural / Context information for the jury
Danes love their bikes. Copenhagen is the world’s most cycle-friendly city (WorldEconomicForum). The city has over 675,000 bicycles and just 120,000 cars, meaning bikes outnumber cars by more than five-to-one, almost one third (29%) of all journeys across Copenhagen made by bike.
60% of all accidents could be avoided by wearing a helmet.
The Danes are thought traffic safety and biking from a very early age. Brilliant! but it has also strengthened our confidence to a point of arrogance having the message retold as an adult, leaving barriers up and safety and helmet as low interest topics. So, simply being the Danish Road Safety Council challenges attention among the adult Danes.
Denmark takes pride in our history. The Viking age has become the symbol of our heritage. As representation of Denmark and to demonstrate our strength, we proudly wear Viking helmets at international events like football, Tour de France etc.