Partnership Gets Sarcastic In Latest Anti-Pot Spots

One thing teens can appreciate is sarcasm. The Partnership for a Drug-Free America is hoping that tone connects with its target in a new national campaign breaking today from DDB. The effort, which examines the impact of teens' marijuana smoking on their friends and families, is the first from the Omnicom Group shop's Southern California office since DDB joined the Partnership roster last December. It is the latest work in the controversial national youth anti-drug media campaign, which has come under fire for failing to significantly change teen behavior. The campaign is produced through an alliance between the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy and the Partnership, which is a nonprofit. Unlike recent campaigns, which stressed the physical dangers of getting high, the new work focuses on the emotional, said Rebecca Shaw, deputy director of creative development for the Partnership in New York. The effort launches with a pair of 30-second spots. In "Pool," a toddler carries an inflatable raft to a swimming pool and places it in the water. As she teeters on the edge, a voiceover says: "Just tell her parents you weren't watching her because you were getting stoned. They'll understand." The other ad, "Pick Up," shows a group of young boys leaving a baseball field. One sits on the curb, waiting to be picked up, as day turns to dusk. The voiceover says, "Just tell your little brother that you forgot to pick him up because you were getting stoned. He'll understand." Executive creative director Mark Monteiro said DDB chose to use the notion of disappointing friends and family as "the motivating consequence" of smoking marijuana. "It comes up in research over and over again as being incredibly important to [teens]," said Shaw, adding that they are particularly concerned about being role models to younger siblings. Past efforts from the Partnership that targeted pot smoking include 2002's "Harmless" campaign from Publicis Groupe's Leo Burnett in Chicago, which featured a spot in which a guy at a party reaches for the buttons on the blouse of an incapacitated girl, and spots from Interpublic Group's McCann-Erickson in New York that addressed issues such as driving under the influence. Two other DDB spots are currently testing. The campaign also includes print and radio ads that employ the same theme and tone as the TV work. "Pool" will also air in cinemas around Thanksgiving. While campaign spending has been $150 million, Congress is still determining what next year's budget will be. The House of Representatives is proposing $150 million, the Senate $100 million [Adweek, Sept. 15]. The House is expected to set a date for a conference hearing on the issue by the end of this week, said an appropriations committee staffer. Legislators have been critical of the campaign's effectiveness. "ONDCP needs to produce evidence that there is a decrease in drug use specifically because of the campaign itself," said the staffer, adding that an ongoing study funded by the House has shown "no direct causational link."

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Partnership Gets Sarcastic In Latest Anti-Pot Spots

Rebecca Flass

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