Handlebars as hunting trophy posters highlight dangers of Brazilian roads

A series of advertorial posters in Brazil are highlighting the dangers drivers pose to cyclists.

The posters, by creative agency Heads Propaganda, depict morbid bashed-up handlebars displayed on wooden mounts similar to big game hunting trophies.

Not only does the imagery in each poster reference hunting, but each of the images is accompanied by a commemorative line about where the 'kill' was made. One bike was "hunted on the road" another "in the park" with the final bike "hunted at night".

A message runs alongside the series of posters which reads: “Every day, more and more cyclists are being killed in Brazilian streets and roads. Let’s respect the cyclists. Let’s stop hunting”

The message of respect between motorists and cyclists is one that transcends national borders and is as relevant here as it appears to be in Brazil.

We’ve run a story on mounted handlebars before, and it's possible they could have inspired the Brazilian road safety campaign.

In 2012 we saw a commemorative, rather than macabre, trophying of bicycles in Royal College of Art graduate Regan Appleton’s Bicycle Taxidermy.

The artist runs a service in which she affixes to wooden mounts the handlebars of much loved bicycles that have been pedalled for the last time.