Russian firm's road safety ad uses YouTube to hide message

MOSCOW, May 1 (UPI) -- A Russian insurance company is using YouTube's thumbnail preview feature to teach impatient viewers -- and motorists -- a lesson about speeding.

The 10-minute video by insurance company Intouch Russia is titled "Most Terrible Fatal Car Crash Ever," but viewers who watch the video straight through for the full duration see nothing more than one car passing another on the road.

However, YouTube viewers who slide their cursors along the view's timeline see preview thumbnails that combine to depict a head-on collision with a truck followed by the message, "Don't Rush."

The video, created by ad firm BBDO Russia, plays on the popularity of dashboard camera videos of crashes in Russia. Many Russian motorists use dashcams to avoid the rampant insurance fraud and corrupt law enforcement in the country.