3.2.2.1 Parent Awareness of Anti-Drug Ads

At the intermediate site visits, which took place approximately halfway through the Phase I Media Campaign, parents in most of the target sites reported a high level of awareness of anti-drug ads on television, including Spanish-language ads where those were shown. Many parents recalled seeing Frying Pan, Drowning, Father and Son at Fence, Father and Son at Breakfast, Birthday/Inhalants, Girlfriend, Party Girl, and Burbs (Skateboard). Most parents who recalled television ads reported that they saw the ads several times a day, particularly during prime time, but they seldom remembered the channels on which the anti-drug ads were aired, and they rarely were able to identify ONDCP as a sponsor. There was only one site (Washington, D.C.) where several parents named ONDCP as the ad sponsor. At other sites, some parents identified PDFA and local anti-drug groups as sponsors of the ads they recalled seeing.

The exceptions regarding parents' awareness of ads were reported by urban Baltimore parents, who remembered few television ads and said there did not seem to be as many ads during the Media Campaign as before; in Portland, parents stated that the only ads they saw were on late at night.

The parents had good recall of the content of the television ads and usually understood the messages, although the Burbs ad was confusing for many. Several admitted that they did not understand the message of Burbs, and others said that they had thought it urged youth to use marijuana. Urban parents in San Diego remembered the ad but did not understand the ad's message. A parent in the non-urban focus group in Hartford said the ad had "enlightened" her because the youth in the ad was nearly the same age as her own son.

Many parents expressed appreciation at the frequency and regularity of the ad broadcasting. Parents in Atlanta said that they had seen more anti-drug ads in the past 3 months than in the previous 2 years, and parents in Hartford agreed that "the more ads, the better; the more talking about drugs, the better."

In general, the parents did not recall billboards or newspaper ads and only rarely had they heard radio ads. A few parents in Tucson recalled seeing billboards and posters, and parents in Washington, D.C., remembered billboards and bumper stickers. Parents in general could not remember the content of the billboards, posters, or bumper stickers other than that they contained anti-drug messages. Compared with parents in target sites, parents in comparison sites reported seeing few anti-drug ads.

Although the ONDCP Media Campaign was not conducted in the comparison sites, most comparison-site parents remembered seeing a few anti-drug commercials on television, primarily PDFA ads, which would have been aired as public service announcements. The Brain on Drugs ad (showing an egg in a frying pan) was most frequently remembered.