PROVO, Utah — Michael Richardson remembers what it felt like to be a teenager, to have adults make judgments about him without knowing him.
Now the former BYU student has a message for teens across the United States: Don't let anyone label you. Be your own anti-drug.
Top federal officials gathered June 30 at BYU to launch the U.S. Government's new anti-drug campaign, created from Brother Richardson's message.
John Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy; Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah; and Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah; recognized the work of BYU advertising students who conceived, wrote, designed and produced the print, radio and television ads that are airing across the country this summer.
Many teens, said Mr. Walters, begin to use drugs — especially during summer months when they are not in school — because they falsely believe "everyone does it."
The BYU students' campaign, managed by New York City-based Ogilvy and Mather for the Office of National Drug Control Policy, used a positive approach to help teens avoid marijuana. The ad's slogan is simple, "I am my anti-drug."
During the campaign launch, held in the lobby of BYU's Harris Fine Arts Center, Mr. Walters said the BYU work competed with the best creative results from advertising agencies across the county. It will air because it resonated with teens in focus groups, he said.
"I have learned not to rely on adults to decide what is attractive to kids," he said.
Officially part of the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, the ads will air through the summer on NBC, ABC, Fox, MTV and other networks during programs targeted to teens. The print ads will appear in magazines such as Sports Illustrated, Teen People, Seventeen, YM, Surfing, Snowboarding, and many others in July and August. The radio ads are scheduled to run on rock, contemporary hits and country stations across the dial.
Sen. Hatch, a Church member, said the fight against drugs in the United States must focus on "demand reduction."
"Unless children are prepared with the knowledge and truth of how drugs will ruin their health and future, they are vulnerable to the lies of those who are peddling drugs," he said.
Positive messages like the BYU ads offer affirmation to those young people making the right choice. "Rather that focusing on the bad kids, these ads focus on youth who choose not to do drugs. These ads emphasize that it is cool to participate in activities such as sports, music, theater, or have a hobby such as art. They show that activities are much more rewarding that using drugs."
Brother Richardson, who now works as a copy writer in California, was taking an advanced advertising class when he conceived the ideas for the campaign, never dreaming they would not only resonate with the U.S. Government's top drug control agency, but also teenagers in test groups nationwide.
"We were supposed to challenge adult perception of teen behavior," he said, recalling how, during his late teens, he sometimes felt unfairly judged by adults.
The campaign started through a relationship between Brother Richardson's BYU professor, Doug McKinlay, and professionals at New York ad agency Ogilvy and Mather who do research and strategic planning for the National Youth Anti-Drug Campaign. The Ogilvy staff occasionally shared with the BYU students the campaign's strategic goals and messages. The professionals also offered feedback and mentoring on the students' efforts via teleconferences.
The intent was to simulate real-world experience for the students, not to use their results in a campaign. Yet once the work arrived in New York, the professionals immediately knew it was superior and fresh, said Kevin Kelly from the agency.
After it tested well, BYU offered to have the students produce the ads themselves, at no cost. The students obtained a $10,000 federal grant and drawing on many campus resources and, turning to other BYU students and teens from nearby Provo High school for models, produced the campaign. Ogilvy officials estimate it would have cost them $600,000 to produce the same result.
"The idea of mentored learning is a remarkable idea and one that I hope will grow and expand here and throughout the country," said Rep. Cannon, also a Church member.
Dr. McKinlay has great hope for the future of mentored learning at BYU. This campaign, he said, proves BYU students can succeed against the toughest advertising audience in the world — teenagers.
"Our only hope is that at the end of this campaign there will be fewer teens than ever in the United States of America smoking marijuana."
E-mail: sarah@desnews.com
