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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contacts: Jennifer de Vallance, ONDCP (202) 395-6618
David Hochberg, Lillian Vernon Corp.
(914) 925-1300
March 17, 2003
Lillian Vernon Corporation Joins the White House Youth Anti-Drug Campaign
National Catalog and Online Retailer Will Spread Messages to Customers and Employees
(Washington, D.C.) —The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) today announced that Lillian Vernon Corporation, a national catalog and online retailer, has partnered with the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign. Lillian Vernon customers who place orders during March and April will receive youth drug prevention pamphlets that provide anti-drug parenting tips and information on how to order "Keeping Your Kids Drug-Free: a How-To Guide For Parents and Caregivers," a free brochure published by the Campaign and endorsed by the National PTA and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Lillian Vernon is the first catalog and online retailer to partner with the Media Campaign. It joins a growing number of American companies that recognize the value of promoting youth drug prevention. Another Campaign partner, Dole Food Company, Inc., underwrote the printing of more than 100,000 pamphlets for distribution to Lillian Vernon customers and employees.
"By reaching out to consumers through retailers like Lillian Vernon Corporation, we are providing parents with youth drug prevention information in new and innovative ways," said ONDCP Director John P. Walters. "We hope that the direct marketing industry will follow Lillian Vernon's lead and join in this effort."
Studies show that parents are the single biggest influence on their children when it comes to drug use and prevention. Lillian Vernon will reach out to its national customer base to provide parents with important resources for raising drug-free youth. In addition to distribution of the parenting pamphlets, Lillian Vernon will post information on its Web site, www.lillianvernon.com, including a link to the Media Campaign's award-winning Web site for parents, www.TheAntiDrug.com. The company will also feature drug abuse prevention messages in e-mails to its customers and in customer service correspondence. To educate its workforce, Lillian Vernon is making anti-drug resources available by displaying Media Campaign posters in its facilities, publishing articles about youth drug prevention in its employee newsletter and providing employees with parenting materials.
Lillian Vernon, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Lillian Vernon Corporation, stated, "As the mother of two sons, I understand the importance of this message. Through our partnership with the Media Campaign, our customers will have access to valuable information about the dangers of youth drug use. Parents are the most important influence in their children's lives."
The partnership with Lillian Vernon Corporation is part of the Media Campaign's ongoing effort to enlist corporate America in youth drug prevention. Businesses are encouraged to provide in-kind donations of goods and communications services and financial contributions to underwrite advertising, programs and materials. Through collaboration with corporate America, the Media Campaign reaches millions of youth and parents with anti-drug messages and information in more places, more often and more persuasively.
Lillian Vernon Corporation is a 52-year-old national catalog and online retailer that markets gift, housewares, gardening, Christmas and children's products. Lillian Vernon Corporation publishes seven catalog titles: Lillian Vernon, Lilly's Kids, Personalized Gifts, Favorites, Rue de France, Christmas Memories and a sale catalog. Lillian Vernon's two Web sites are www.lillianvernon.com and www.ruedefrance.com. The company also sells its products in the business-to-business and outlet store markets.
In 1998, with the bipartisan support of Congress and the President, ONDCP created the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, an effort designed to educate and empower youth to reject illicit drugs. Counting on an unprecedented blend of public and private partnerships, non-profit community service organizations, volunteerism, and youth-to-youth communications, the Media Campaign is designed to reach Americans of diverse backgrounds. For more information on the ONDCP National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign visit www.mediacampaign.org, www.freevibe.com or www.theantidrug.com.
