On their website Above the Influence states, “Our goal is to help teens stand up to
negative pressures, or influences. The more aware you are of the influences
around you, the better prepared you will be to face them, including the
pressure to use drugs, pills, and alcohol. We're not telling you how
to live your life, but we are giving you another perspective and the latest
facts. You need to make your own smart decisions. We want teens to live Above
the Influence”
Above the Influence is part of the National Youth-Media
Campaign, which is a program under the Office of National Drug Control Policy
(ONDCP) Within ONDCP documentation it states that the campaign is “focused on
primary prevention—that is, preventing those who did not use drugs from
starting to use drugs.”
Programs
of this type seek to target adolescents who already had a drug-free mentality
and help them maintain those attitudes. Therefore fixing the underlying causes
of drug-use, which means the greatest chance of success over the long run.
It is crucial to remember the 8 P’s of social marketing when analyzing a social marketing campaign.
Product:
In the
case of Above the Influence, their product is a behavior they are reinforcing within
their target audience. They want
teens to resist peer pressure and stay substance free. The campaign wishes to
reinforce anti-drug attitudes and beliefs among non-users rather than trying to
change the behaviors of current drug users.
Price:
The campaign is government funded meaning there are
significant monetary costs to all taxpayers.
For example, $42.7 million was spending on the evaluation
stage of the program.
When the program was first started as “My Anti-Drug” 1998 it
was allotted a $1.2 billion media budget
After that program failed, it was relaunched in 2005 as
“Above the Influence” with a $200 million budget, but by 2011 the budget had
been cut down to $35 million.
“More often in social marketing, [price] involves
intangibles such as time, effort, and old habits. Emotional costs can be a part
of the price as well…”(Weinreich)
Emotional costs: emotions associated with peer pressure and
resisting peer pressure (i.e. embarrassment if bullied, called “lame” for not
trying drugs)
Promotion:
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Above the Influence campaigns
can be found nationwide in various locations. Television advertising is the
most common form of the media outlets used by this campaign. Above the
Influence tends to implement their messages into the commercial segments of television
networks or programs that target teens and young adults. The campaign sends a
more broad prevention message to the nation as a whole while offering more
specifically targeted efforts on a more local level. They understand the
possibilities that different regions may have different issues concerning drug
and alcohol abuse. A favored outlet to reach desired target audiences is
through the New York based news program Channel
1. This 12-minute news program finds its way into roughly 8,000 middle and
high schools nationwide, resulting in the attention of 6 million students. Other
networks of interest include Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, and various PBS
programming. Television networks such as these captivate the same aged target
audience as Above The Influence.
While the shows displayed through these channels may not address the same
topics and messages as Above the
Influence, they pertain to the same audiences and promote a positive
message to those watching. Commercials that promote a more parental influence
may be shown during shows that parents knowingly watch with their children.
Other places that Above The Influence can be found is
through physical events they carry out by traveling to schools and communities
across the country. They raise awareness towards their message by physically
interacting with their target audiences. Being able to relate to their issue on
both a national and physical scale is something that gives this campaign a
unique benefit. They understand whom they are trying to reach along with the
lifestyles they live. Their messages can be found throughout several youth
organizations. For example, Boys and Girls Scouts of America, Boys and Girls
Clubs, and YMCA centers nationwide. With over 80 partners, 98% recommend Above The Influence implementation into
their community or organization.
Promotions:
Above the Influence is an ad-campaign, and primarily broadcasts its ads on television and YouTube.
Partnership:
--> Above The Influence maintains over 80 partnerships across the country. This social capital consists of organizations like Boys & Girls Club, YMCA, the National Organization for Youth Safety, and Drugfree.org. Partnering with entities that are already rooted in communities across the country allows for great exposure to Above The Influence messages. Their desired target audiences are easily reached through these well-established organizations that would be more than happy to promote their messages. The elaborate networking of this campaign is what leads to its high success rate. The government funding and other associations as a result of being a propaganda-based advertising campaign allow for easy exposure through health campaigns. The advertisements show depictions of what could happen as a result of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use on social, physical, and emotional levels. Their array of partnerships allow for messages to connect on each given level.Publics:
Above the Influence’s external audiences consist of their target audience, teenagers and young adults. However, the ads are also meant to affect their secondary external audience, adults who influence teens, (like parents and teachers) about what teens are going through. Their internal audience would be the group that funds the campaign, the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
Policy:
The Above the Influence campaign is lucky in that their main goal, keeping teens from smoking marijuana, has the law on its side. Obtaining marijuana in any form (growing, selling, using) is illegal under federal law. However, some states have legalized medical marijuana and others have even decriminalized the use of marijuana altogether. In short, the Above the Influence campaign generally has an upper hand in that the behavior they’re trying to lessen is not only culturally taboo, but illegal as well.
Purse Strings:
Above
The Influence is a government funded advertising campaign
under the Office of National Drug Policy. More specifically, it is a branch of
the Anti-Drug Media Campaign as propaganda-based
Advertising. Their messages also gain support
through the funding of their partners. Most partnerships of Above The Influence are organizations
that can sustain themselves. The messages provided by this campaign support
values that these partnerships already agree upon. The campaign does not seek
to raise profits or donations to certain groups, but simply to raise awareness
of how drugs and alcohol affect our nation’s youth.
Media Analysis
Television
advertisements are Above the Influence’s most recognizable media platform. However, the campaigns use of TV ads is
problematic, as early incarnations have proven to be unsuccessful. The ads frequently show teens mixed
messages and do not effectively communicate to their target audience. “Despite prior warning by a review
committee member, ONDCP forged through with a marijuana ad that featured
‘young, attractive youth’ that had used the drug (DeJong & Wallack, 2000).
In addition, another series of advertisements ran showing members of popular
rock bands such as Kiss regretting prior drug use (DeJong & Wallack, 2000)”
(Spitzer). These images were a
paradox, because while they frowned upon drug use, they also unintentionally
expressed the value that attractive, fun, and successful people smoke
marijuana. Employing celebrities
from rock bands like Kiss also challenged the integrity of the message, because
some audience members may question whether these advocates still smoke
marijuana. Furthermore, although
Above the Influence’s ads stress the negative impacts drugs have on users, the
ads imply drug use is common and widely spread among teens. For example, in the advertisement “Sick,”
an attractive girl is pictured “vomiting up” photographs of her family and
trophies symbolistic of her interests and desires, however she has just stepped
into the bathroom from a raging party where presumably lots of kids, perhaps
even her friends, are having fun and using illegal substances. Because the ads use no factual support
and heavily rely on fear tactics, they lead teens to distrust them. Teens perceive that the ads are both
unconvincing and misleading or believe the messages are unrelated to them
because they would never get “that messed up.”
Minimal
research has been performed on the effectiveness of these campaigns and what
has been done has been in association with the Office of National Drug Control
Policy (which manages the campaign) and tested on an age group with the median
age of 12.4 (Spitzer). The twelve
year olds tested have only had one year of exposure with the campaign, where as
college age audiences (18-22) grew up with the campaign (Spitzer). The prevalence of illicit drug use
among college age students would be a better reflection on the campaign’s “success”
than that of drug use among twelve year olds. In contrast to the ONDCP’s claims of the effectiveness of the
campaign based on their own studies, “’…the United States Government
Accountability Office concurred’… that ‘the declines in drug use could not be
attributed to the NYAMC [National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, responsible
for producing Above the Influence]’ (Hencken, 2007, p. 25)” (Spitzer). Furthermore, “Government Accountability
Office (GAO) report found that the government contractor the ONDCP hired to
measure results of the campaign concluded that it didn't appear to foster
disapproval of drug use and 'may even have promoted perceptions among exposed
youths that others' drug use was normal,' the GAO report stated” (McKenna). “Tom Riley, ONDCP public affairs
director, pointed to a Sept. 7 survey from the US Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration that found illicit drug use by 12- to
17-year-olds was down roughly 15% from 2002 to 2005” (McKenna).
However, this survey in no way proves correlation between the campaign
and lessening drug use—marijuana use by adolescents actually “declined from the
late 1990s until the mid-to-late 2000s, but has been on the increase since then”
(NIDA). “In 2010, MTF surveyed
45,000 students in 8th, 10th, and 12th grades (Kuehn, 2011). This updated study
found that marijuana use was on the upswing in all three grades (Kuehn, 2011)”
(Spitzer).
In
the social media world Above the Influence’s goals are littered by the personal
and participatory nature of Twitter.
Although #AboveTheInfluence has enabled drug free teens to express the
campaigns message and share blurts of support, their tweets are interrupted by
sporadic snarky commentary. For
example, a few lines down from the uplifting tweet “I don’t need alcohol to
have a good time with my best friends!” is “Watching an above the influence
commercial while drinking a giant glass of wine J.” Although Above the Influence offers a
link to tweet about it, the campaign does not manage it’s own official twitter
account, leaving the conversation about Above the Influence completely in the
hands of the public. The 140-character
limit of tweets also prevents logical, evidence based posts—there’s simply not
enough room to post more than a fun shout out. The campaign has left this medium completely open for
bashing and false accusations.
Above the Influence’s Facebook account stands in contrast as an example
of good social marketing. Through
Facebook the campaign again encourages participation, however the campaign
still has great control over the medium.
Above the Influence uses Facebook to communicate it’s messages with
other like minded people, thoughtfully respond to those who seem to be “on the
fence” about the subject, and surely block anyone who leaves a post which
reflects negatively on the campaign.
They also make frequent posts on their Facebook page with facts and
research about the negative effects of drug use. Those who turn to the Above the Influence Facebook page for
information will find a perfect bubble of targeted scientific evidence, plain
folks, and bandwagon persuasion.
Recently,
it appears that Above the Influence is trying to reconcile its difficulties
reaching teens through previous TV advertising methods and the participatory
nature of social media. One of their
newer ads, “We Rise Above,” features no drug imagery at all. It is an uplifting video of personal,
plain folk testimonials as well as screen shots from their Facebook page of teens
posting about being “Above the Influence.” In this ad they imply everyone is on the bandwagon of being
“Above the Influence,” instead of previous messages that emphasized that many
teens were using illegal substances.
By visually interweaving Facebook into the advertisement, they encourage
audiences to go to the page and learn more about the campaign.
Evaluation:
The success of ATI’s campaign has proposed issues dealing with consistency. Depending on where the source is coming from and how the facts are presented makes the success of their campaign have two different outcomes. Based off an Ohio State research project led by Michael Slater- Communications Professor at OSU, ATI has had some encouraging signs of success. The research consisted of surveying 3,236 students around the age of 12 who were exposed to the ATI campaign messaging. The surveyed students were selected from 20 different communities from around the U.S. in 2005. The results showed that 79 percent of the students surveyed claimed to have seen the ads. Of the students that had seen the ads only 8 percent had experimented with marijuana by the end 8th grade compared to 12 percent of the students that had not seen the ads. One of the main contributions attributed to having the ATI campaign become successful was the switch from negative to positive reinforcements for staying away from drugs. Students who had seen the “Above the Influence” ads were more likely than others to say that marijuana use was inconsistent with being autonomous and independent and that it would interfere with their goals and aspirations. The weakness from the results of this research is that the students and the communities were not randomly selected diluting the credibility of the survey. Also the percentage differences between those that were affected from the ads versus thus that weren't seem very modest. 8 and 12 percent difference is not a significantly large change.
Evaluation:
The success of ATI’s campaign has proposed issues dealing with consistency. Depending on where the source is coming from and how the facts are presented makes the success of their campaign have two different outcomes. Based off an Ohio State research project led by Michael Slater- Communications Professor at OSU, ATI has had some encouraging signs of success. The research consisted of surveying 3,236 students around the age of 12 who were exposed to the ATI campaign messaging. The surveyed students were selected from 20 different communities from around the U.S. in 2005. The results showed that 79 percent of the students surveyed claimed to have seen the ads. Of the students that had seen the ads only 8 percent had experimented with marijuana by the end 8th grade compared to 12 percent of the students that had not seen the ads. One of the main contributions attributed to having the ATI campaign become successful was the switch from negative to positive reinforcements for staying away from drugs. Students who had seen the “Above the Influence” ads were more likely than others to say that marijuana use was inconsistent with being autonomous and independent and that it would interfere with their goals and aspirations. The weakness from the results of this research is that the students and the communities were not randomly selected diluting the credibility of the survey. Also the percentage differences between those that were affected from the ads versus thus that weren't seem very modest. 8 and 12 percent difference is not a significantly large change.
Above the Influence In the media
This first article discusses a Texas high school area program run by Impact Futures Drug-Free Coalition in Amarillo, TX. which gave 6 blank canvases to local high schools to depict their artistic interpretation of Above the Influence. The winning design would get to bring their canvas to Capitol Hill, to show their congressman that the money they were sending from DC to their area of Texas was effectively going towards drug-use prevention. "We're a non-profit trying to reduce substance abuse among teens and so a way we decided to do that was through the national campaign called Above the Influence. And what this is, is kids take ownership of whatever it is that keeps them above negative influences," says Impact director LaViza Matthews. It showed to be a great and effective method to get this local Texas community involved in becoming drug-free.
This second article seemed to be a little more critical of the Government-run program. This cynical criticism points out the hypocrisy of the government trying to combat drug abuse among American youth, while they seem to be addicted to copious spending themselves. When the initial drug-prevention program launched in 1998 with an initial funding of 1.2 billion, that was money wasted according to the Government Accountability Office. What did the Bush administration do about this? They increased funding to 130 million dollars over the next year. The problem, that this author sees, is that to answer the 1.2 billion spent on an ineffective campaign, the government added 31% to their budget. According to the article, this money could have been spent on education as a way to combat drug abuse, not a series of nonsensical ad campaigns. These ad campaigns consisting of a girl turning into an accordion or a talking dog telling her owner he’s sad, all because of drugs. Instead, these ads make kids that had no interest in drugs want to try them.
This third article highlight the first annual “Above the Influence Day” held in Washington, D.C., this past fall. D.C., known for its high rates of crime and drug use, seems like the perfect place to proactively target the youth in drug prevention. In attendance was R. Gil Kerlikowske, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, who delivered the opening remarks at the event. The event included a teen panel on drug use prevention. At this panel teens discussed the influences they face every day with moderator and community partner Carla Brooks. Another speaker at the event was Katrina Toews, director of the Washington Ballet. The ballet also performed freestyle dance for the kids, and talked about how they stay above the influence. The event was interactive too, giving teens the chance to draw their own Above the Influence logo, expressing how they steer clear of drugs. The event seemed to be an overall success with a lot of different activities to get teens involved.
Citations
“Above the influence: A value analysis of anti-drug public
service announcements.”
Spitzer, Jenna Elisabeth. California State University,
Fullerton, ProQuest, UMI Dissertations Publishing, 2010. 1485936.
"DrugFacts: High School and Youth Trends."
National Institute on Drug Abuse. National Institute on Drug Abuse, n.d. Web.
20 Feb 2013.
<http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/high-school-youth-trends>.
Grabmeier, Jeff. "National Anti-Drug Campaign Succeds In Lowering Marijuana Use Study Suggests." Research News. Ohio State University, n.d. Web. <http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/aboveinfluence.htm>
Grabmeier, Jeff. "National Anti-Drug Campaign Succeds In Lowering Marijuana Use Study Suggests." Research News. Ohio State University, n.d. Web. <http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/aboveinfluence.htm>
McKenna, Ted. "Survey Supports 'Anti-Drug'." PR
Week (US) (2006): n.pag. LexisNexis. Web. 20 Feb 2013. <http://www.lexisnexis.com.ezproxy.uvm.edu/lnacui2api/api/version1/getDocCui?lni=4KXF-3010-TX4T-32NX&csi=235906&hl=t&hv=t&hnsd=f&hns=t&hgn=t&oc=00240&perma=true>.
