5.1   Lesson 1: Improving Anti-Drug Media Ads

There was considerable agreement across sites and among communities, community representatives, youth, and parents about how to improve ads. Focus group participants and individuals who were interviewed agreed that ads need to be realistic, present the facts, and use local contact numbers for referrals. Other suggestions include the following:

• Ads should demonstrate the physical effects of drug use, including negative changes in physical appearance.
• Ads should show recognizable local (or at least regional) settings
.
• Celebrities used in the ads should be local personalities.
• There should be more first-person testimonials, especially by youth peers.
• There should be more advice on how to improve parent-child communication about drugs.
• Ads should be age-appropriate, with younger and older children targeted with specific ads.
• Ads should be customized toward specific ethnic and income groups.
• In addition to targeting young children with certain ads, the Media Campaign should involve more young children.

These suggestions were made regularly by youth, parents, and community representatives living in cities and suburbs.