TV, radio spots roll out as part of multimedia public service and outreach efforts aimed at families who fail to recognize that drugs are everyone’s problem, not just ‘the neighbor’s kid’
The Partnership at Drugfree.org today unveils TV and radio spots as part of its 2010 national Spanish-language multimedia public service and prevention campaign aimed at thwarting drug use among Latino youth.
Created around the central idea that drugs aren’t just a problem for the neighbor’s kid and can easily become an issue in one’s own home, “El Hijo del Vecino” (“The Neighbor’s Kid”), is a series of 30-second TV and radio spots that focus on a neighborhood where everyone from a concerned parent to the school principal to the school janitor point to the neighbor’s kid as the source of local drug problems.
Each of the characters featured in the TV spots manage to ignore the obvious: that drugs in a community are everybody’s problem, or as the tag says: “Asumir que es el problema de otros es el problema.” (“Assuming that it’s somebody else’s problem is the problem.”)
Hispanic parents are the targets of the messaging, which builds on the nonprofit organization’s “Habla Con Tus Hijos” (“Talk with your Kids”) initiative. Creative work, including a planned digital effort, is by Adrenalina, a leading multicultural advertising and marketing agency that is part of Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal + Partners (KBS+P).
“We expect that this campaign will strike a chord with Hispanic parents who may not grasp that their kids are just as likely to be exposed to drugs as other people’s kids,” said Caryn Pace, deputy director of creative development, the Partnership Drugfree.org, adding: “The creative work produced by Adrenalina drives home the message to parents and recommends that they visit HablaConTusHijos.org to get practical advice about talking to their kids about drugs and alcohol.”
The Partnership at Drugfree.org encourages parents to have open, honest conversations with their children because research has shown that kids who learn a lot about the dangers of drugs at home are up to 50 percent less likely to use drugs than those who do not get that crucial message from those who can possibly influence them the most, their parents.
Still, Hispanic parents are less likely (88 percent) to talk with their kids about the risks of drug and alcohol use compared to African American (94 percent) and Caucasian parents (92 percent), according to the 2008 Partnership Attitude Tracking Study.
Moreover, among the nation’s 35 million families with children ages 9-17, nearly 7 million Hispanic families with children in that age group are considered at risk for abusing drugs and alcohol, per the Partnership at Drugfree.org.
“Talking to your kids about drugs isn’t easy for any parent. The message of this campaign is that today it’s imperative,” said Victor Zeiris, creative director, Adrenalina. “This campaign addresses the problem of denial that’s prevalent in our communities. Two key themes of the creative work are to bring this issue to the forefront and to emphasize the importance of prevention.”
The TV spots were directed by award-winning director Simon Bross, with post-production work provided by Cortez Brothers, Los Angeles, and edited via Bross. Production work for the radio spots was provided by Mixology Lab, New York. All creative work by Adrenalina and its agency partners was produced pro bono.
For more information visit the Partnership at Drugfree.org. For information in Spanish, go to HablaConTusHijos.org.
SOURCE Adrenalina