Honda Motor Company will run newspaper and radio ads as well as Facebook posts to get the word out about a potentially lethal defect in millions of its cars.
Since 2008, Honda has recalled 5 million vehicles with airbags manufactured by Japanese supplier Takata. The airbags can rupture during deployment, sending shrapnel towards the driver and in some cases the front seat passenger.
Several people have died from their injuries in such accidents, including a man killed in February in a Honda vehicle he'd purchased used from a dealer.
Honda says only 15% of the cars have been repaired, and the automaker has also been unable to contact by letter several thousand people who bought the cars.
Although the media campaign is unprecedented for Honda, it is not unprecedented in the industry. General Motors launched a large social media and advertising campaign last year to urge people to have cars with defective ignition switches repaired.
