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When advocacy group The American Legacy Foundation wanted to change young minds about smoking, they deployed the edgy, creative campaign the truth. Using in-your-face honesty (or what some call hyperbole), the campaign went straight for the gut. But piling up thousands of body bags outside a big tobacco office was just the beginning. Now in its tenth year, the campaign continues to persuade with a no-punches-pulled approach — one that by 2002 had saved over 100,000 lives.
Hoping to continue this trend, the foundation is reviving their Shards of Glass Freezepops spot and expanding it into a full campaign. The first spot originally ran less than a dozen times in 2004, and two all-new spots asking “what if all marketers sold their products the way tobacco companies do?” will air this fall.
What can we learn from the success and longevity of the truth? For one, that pitting youth against what they perceive as the establishment can sometimes be a good thing. But also that evocative, original, creative strategies actually do change behavior — whether that’s dissuading someone from purchasing a pack of cigarettes, or persuading someone to choose your product or service.
Tags: the truth / american legacy foundation / shards of glass