The Message Matters: Lessons from the Partnership for a Drug-Free America® on the Power and Promise of Media-Based Education Campaigns

"Partnership campaigns are designed to influence attitudes about drug use. Research shows that as more kids see risk in particular drugs, and as fewer kids see drugs and drug taking as acceptable, fewer kids choose to use drugs. Influencing attitudes, therefore, is critically important if the endgame is changing behavior."

This 20-page evaluation examines the work of Partnership for a Drug-Free America (PDFA), a nonprofit organisation using media-based advertising campaigns in an effort to reduce illicit drug use in the United States. The American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) provided the seed money to launch the Partnership in the mid-1980s; published on the occasion of the Partnership's 20-year anniversary, this report assesses whether its education campaigns are indeed effective in changing drug-related attitudes and influencing behaviour.

The report features several case studies that provide details about various PDFA initiatives over the years, with evaluation data gleaned from academically published independent research, in-market case studies, and outcomes of dedicated national campaigns. To cite only one example, the case study included here on "Fighting 'Heroin Chic' describes the process that led the Partnership to develop a campaign to de-glamorise use of this drug. PDFA research indicated that a new generation of teenagers viewed trying heroin as a low-risk endeavour, and looked to emulate fashion models' gaunt, stark look of "junkies". In an effort to expose the ugly, physically degrading aspects of heroin, the PDFA developed print and television campaigns portraying images of heroin addicts talking about what the drug had done to them. One such "spot" followed the journey of a beautiful woman through her short career in advertising. Snapshots capture her as a young copywriter; additional pictures follow her physical descent, prompted by her foray into heroin use. The spot's final images capture a gaunt, withered, aged woman removing a set of false teeth to demonstrate the toll heroin had taken on her body. By 1997, tracking data reported a "remarkable increase in teen perceptions of risk associated with heroin"; the Partnership's heroin campaign was honoured by the New York American Marketing Association with an award for marketing effectiveness.

To illustrate one slightly different advertising strategy, PDFA used more light-hearted images in attempting to curb the use of inhalants (cleaners, paint thinners, propane, gasoline, etc.) among children in the United States. To guard against educating curious kids, Partnership campaigns refrained from showing abused products, or the actual practice of sniffing or "huffing." Rather, the spots focused squarely on the physical risks of first-time use of inhalants, as well as the grim outcomes of engaging in what many kids regarded as a harmless activity. Parent-oriented aspects of this campaign were shaped by a recognition of the need to educate parents not only about the behaviour, but also about the range of products being abused. Investigators from the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research reported in their annual study of drug trends: "The turnaround in inhalant use and beliefs about its harmfulness corresponds exactly with the start of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America's antiinhalant ad campaign....We are inclined to credit much of the improvement in inhalant use to that intervention."

PDFA indicates (in February 2008) that it has recently launched Time to Talk, an online community to help parents connect with their kids. In addition to a web-based interactive information resource centre, a parent-to-parent support network, a national toll-free call centre, and online/offline tools. Also drawing on the power of parenting, the Decoder blog on the PDFA website is a parent-to-parent forum for tackling the real, everyday issues (e.g., teen culture and substance abuse) that parents face in their attempts to raise healthy teenagers.

Adding depth to its work on the national level, the Partnership's alliance and affiliate programme supports the organisation's mission at the local level. Working with state and city governments and locally-based drug prevention organisations, the Partnership provides guidance, on-site technical assistance, and creative materials to shape anti-substance abuse education campaigns tailored to the needs and activities of any given state or city.