The NonProfit Times - December 15, 2008 - (Page 15) cited benefits for use, like alleviating boredom, losing weight and increasing energy. The project tackled the drug use as a consumer campaign and developed hard-hitting ads that resonated with focus groups. The project focused on addiction -- the main component that turned kids off to meth use -- and developed television ads that show teen drug users attacking parents, robbing houses and pimping out others – all for meth money. One ad shows a boy overdosing while his friends get high in the same room and in another a girl promises that for $50 men can do “anything you want” to her and her sister. “Advertising is very effective. We wanted to un-sell kids on meth,” said Zuppas. “They need to be able to see themselves in that situation. We made sure the risk was in line with reality and shows the potential outcomes in an effort to get them not to use it.” Film notables, like Oscar-nominated director and producer Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, whose work includes Babel and 21 Grams, and Darren Aronofsky, who directed Requiem for a Dream, have directed the project’s television ads. Montana teenagers’ meth use has dropped more than 44 percent since 2005 with the aggressive campaign and stricter laws,according to the Montana Department of Justice, and Wyoming,Arizona, Idaho and Illinois are duplicating the campaign. Other campaigns have to catch attention around the world. Issues concerning global warming are receiving more media attention, but the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), a New York City-based nonprofit, wanted to increase the issue’s immediacy. One television advertisement features a man discussing that “irreversible consequences” global warming are 30 years away and won’t affect him, but steps away to show a speeding train ready to hit a little girl with a tagline explaining, “There is still time.” “The feedback was that we’re not attuned to the climate issues. People have seen that ad and said,‘Oh my God, what if I’m wrong?’ and changed their mind,” said Tony Kreindler, national media director for EDF. “That ad is designed to convey the urgency of the climate change issue, a threat that people might feel is somewhat distant. It lets people know it’s not too late.” Kreindler said that another EDF ad “turned some heads and raised some eyebrows” on Capitol Hill by featuring Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-Calif.), Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D-Mont.) and Gov. Jon Huntsman (R-Utah) in their state’s pristine settings urging Congress to act on global warming. “Within certain circles, that’s provocative, as well. The settings reflect where they are and directly saying to Congress, ‘You have to do something,’” said Kreindler.The governors volunteered their time and EDF spent approximately $3 million on broadcasting the ads in 11 states, including spots during Meet the Press. Using big names to promote large causes isn’t new to nonprofits.When People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) started in 1980, the Norfolk, Va.based nonprofit exposed animal cruelty by sharing undercover information with the media. But the organization had to “change with the times” to get its information out, according to Michael McGraw, a PETA spokesman. “The media has become so sensationalized, and down-right tabloid, and its increasingly more challenging to get these cruelty issues in the news,” said McGraw.“A number of advertising and marketing campaigns try to cut through the clutter with competing news.We’ve had to rely on provocative tactics and use celebrities to get the public attention for issues.” Some anti-fur ads feature celebrities,like Simple Plan band members and actress Per- sia White, holding a skinned fox carcass paired with the slogan,“Here’s the rest of your coat.” It provokes consumers to consciously think about where the fur came from. McGraw said that PETA works with a “small advertising budget” since all celebrities and most photographers, make-up artists and others donate their time and talents. Campaign price tags can range from no cost at all to a few thousand dollars for media placement, such as running billboard ads in Times Square, said McGraw. Sex appeal can sell, but PETA uses it to raise awareness. McGraw said that clicks on the Web site videos spiked when actress Eva Mendez posed in the “I’d Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur” campaign. McGraw said the “fluffy” marketing drives people to PETA’s Web site, where consumers wanting to learn more about animal cruelty can watch graphic informational videos on animal testing and meat factories that are anything but fluff. Nonprofits can use softer approaches to address hard-hitting issues. Take the color pink. Pink traditionally doesn’t inspire power, but millions of women fight a strong battle under that color. Each year more than 211,000 American women are diagnosed with breast cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute at the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Some breast cancer awareness nonprofits want to increase early detection and are using different techniques to target younger audiences. Rethink Breast Cancer, a Toronto, Canada-based charity, teamed up with sponsor Schick Quattro for Women to launch the Booby Wall, an interactive online gallery where women can post pictures of their breasts. The Web site promotes Rethink’s “Touch. Look. Check.” (TLC) early detection program for breast cancer awareness. The wall launched in January after a test run this past fall at the L’Oreal Fashion Week and National Women’s Show in Toronto.Women lined up to take pictures of their breasts in the Booby Booth, an enclosed space, to upload the pictures straight to the Web site.The Booby Booth will be traveling across Canada in consumer shows this year to promote the TLC program and the Booby Wall. “We needed to do something a little bit more provocative,” said Alison Gordon-Farber, Rethink’s marketing and communications director.“I think that there are a lot of messages put out there. We needed to break through the clutter” and have women take control of their breast health, she said. “The objective needed to be about the TLC program and not just about pictures of breasts,” said Gordon-Farber, who said the site targets a Web-savvy audience.“We don’t have a million dollars, so this is a great way to engage women.We thought it was done really well.” Leigh Hurst from Middletown, Pa., doesn’t have millions of dollars either, but she did have her humor. Hurst told friends to “feel your boobies” after she discovered a breast cancer lump when she routinely checked her breasts for irregularities. “Messages out there weren’t reaching us or getting our attention,” said Hurst, who was 33 when she was diagnosed. She decided to put her mantra on 100 T-shirts and gave them to friends.Three years later, the Feel Your Boobies Foundation has sold more than 10,000 T-shirts targeted at women younger than 40 and has branched out to bags, magnets, bandannas and key chains sporting the “Feel your boobies” tagline.The merchandise sales – with shirts priced from $25 to $30 – and donations sustain the awareness program. Annual revenue hit nearly $150,000 in 2007, with donations accepted only since July. “I’m targeting a group of women who don’t have breast cancer and don’t think they have to check,” said Hurst. She thinks the “sexy, funny” campaign message “creates a conversation” that promotes selfhealth awareness instead of taking a clinical approach to breast cancer. “It’s important not to just look like a cute T-shirt,” said Hurst, who ran the message on an aerial ad at the New Jersey shore this summer. “It provokes a message to help you start a behavior to save your life.” NPT DECEMBER 15, 2008 THE NONPROFIT TIMES www.nptimes.com http://www.nptimes.com
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