NEWS TIP SHEET
The ads are poignant. One reads, "Before you get wasted tonight consider the tests you may have to take tomorrow." Listed below the text are phone numbers to the AIDS and pregnancy hotlines in Boulder. This is only one of six responsible drinking ads created by CU-Boulder students that will be seen and heard throughout Boulder County over the next five weeks.
The ads were developed last spring in a class taught by Professor Larry Weisberg in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. He gave his advertising campaigns class a tough assignment: Create a campaign aimed at college students which promotes responsible decision-making in regard to alcohol. The result – an ad campaign that speaks to the college-age crowd in sometimes harsh but direct language. "We wanted to shake people up – to make them think twice about ordering another drink," CU senior Aaron Voelker said. "We found through focus groups that students didn't react to fear tactics because they can't imagine something tragic happening to them. So we took on social issues like STDs (sexually transmitted diseases), poor sexual performance and social idiots."
The six-ad campaign will kickoff the end of this week. Sponsored by SCOSA, the Standing Committee on Substance Abuse, and SAID, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Against Irresponsible Drinking, the ads will appear in Boulder County newspapers, on buses, in the Mann 6 and Arapahoe Village 4 movie theaters, and on radio station KBCO.
Posters also will be put up across the CU-Boulder campus, said Weisberg. He also has plans to distribute the posters to Boulder bars and restaurants as soon as he gets enough student help. "We'd love to see posters in bathrooms in each bar on The Hill," Weisberg said.
Copies of the newspaper ads are available on request. For more information please contact Professor Larry Weisberg, (303) 492-0536, students Robert Espinoza, 440-8490, Angela Kessler, 420-8925, and Deborah Dent, 664-1988, or Dirk Martin, 492-3140, and Laurie Van Horn, 492-2224, in the Office of Public Relations.