A DISTURBING MESSAGE

Gritty Anti-Methamphetamine Ads Aimed At Prevention

Age and use have a way of wearing out even the most profound
statements. Imagine what time does to the bland admonishments of
government-sponsored public service announcements.

Take the classic anti-drug slogans 'Just say no' and 'This is your
brain on drugs,' once proud heralds of the war on drugs, now viewed as
kitschy, even to those who grew up with them.

But future generations of teenagers will be hard-pressed to joke about
the dark, frightening images of Alabama's new Zerometh campaign.

Created by d groupe, a Tuscaloosa-based advertising agency, in
conjunction with the Alabama District Attorneys Association, Zerometh
is an anti-methamphetamine campaign as gritty and nasty as the drug
lifestyle it opposes.

'What launched [Feb. 22] is the beginning of an awareness campaign.
There's a lot going on with meth,' said Greg Davis, 40, president of d
groupe. 'It's pretty unbelievable if you just dig a bit under the
surface to see what's going on.'

Beginnings

Davis, a Tuscaloosa native and University of Alabama alumnus, was
unaware of the extent of Alabama's meth problem before being
approached by the ADAA about 14 months ago to produce a preventive ad
campaign similar to that begun by the state of Montana in 2005. At the
time, Montana ranked fifth highest in the nation in meth abuse.

Over three years, the Montana Meth Project succeeded in dropping
Montana's ranking to 39th.

Chris McCool, district attorney for Fayette, Lamar and Pickens
counties, was one of several DAs who saw the need for a preventive
program in Alabama to complement state legislation that restricts
access to meth precursors such as over-the-counter cold medicines
containing pseudoephedrine.

'Prosecutors in general are all about punishment and dealing with
crimes after they happen, but we felt like in this matter we ought to
take a proactive approach,' McCool said.

Although the 2004 legislation succeeded in cutting meth lab busts in
the state by more than half -- 127 incidents in 2007 compared to 404 in
2004 --McCool said meth continues to flow into Alabama from other
states. The ADAA estimates about 80 percent of prosecutors' cases are
linked to meth and other drugs.

Davis, whose clients include Home & Garden Television, the Food
Network and the Game Show Network, admitted to some trepidation when
confronted with a project so different from his usual fare, but
quickly became an enthusiastic supporter of the project.

Davis interviewed all 42 of Alabama's district attorneys over the
course of three months. He also met with Gov. Bob Riley, U.S. Sen.
Richard Shelby, R-Ala., and Congressman Robert Aderholt, R-Haleyville
- -- all strong proponents of a new anti-meth campaign.

Davis said he heard frightening stories of meth addiction, many too
violent and gruesome to repeat. The clincher, however, was the number
of stories involving teenagers -- many the same age as Davis's two daughters.

'After seeing and interviewing these district attorneys,' Davis said,
'it was hard to say no.'

The Anti-Brand Though portraying the stark reality of meth addiction
was a departure for Davis, he said the campaign required little
deviation from traditional advertising concepts of branding and market
penetration.

'Actually, it's a very similar process,' Davis said. 'Instead of
asking them to buy a product, we're asking them to buy an idea, which
is not to do something.'

All parties, however, agreed the clean, finger-wagging ads of
yesteryear wouldn't do.

'I think the feeling with everybody was 'Let's show people what the
addiction is and ... what this drug is all about without them ever
having to come near it,' he said.

Davis's first task was to establish a marketable theme for the
campaign, what he called the 'anti-brand.' The firm considered and
rejected more than 250 names before settling on Zerometh.

'I'm as proud of the name we've created as anything else,' Davis said.
'Zerometh on a t-shirt or a bumper sticker still speaks strategically
to what we want to say as much as the commercials.'

The d groupe certainly faced its share of typical advertising
challenges, in this case capturing a notoriously difficult and already
media-saturated target market -- teenagers -- with a limited $1 million
budget. By contrast, the similar campaign in Montana cost $5 million.

'The Montana campaign had a much larger budget and were able to focus
on smaller areas of the larger problem,' Davis said. 'We had a limited
budget so we had to say a lot more with less money in a shorter time.'

Davis opted for a multimedia approach with a barrage of
attention-grabbing print ads, billboards and radio and televison spots.

Getting graphic

Central to the campaign were three 30-second commericals featuring
graphic depictions of methamphetamine use and addiction. The
commercials were pulled from nine hours of film shot in Los Angeles
and later overdubbed with the voices of Alabama teens.

Davis said it was easier and less expensive to use his existing
industry contact in California than to search for equivalent talent in
Alabama. Many of the agencies he contacted also halved their rates
upon learning the campaign was a public service.

'With our three commercials we're trying to do everything,' Davis
said. 'We're trying to show addiction, we're trying to show the
[physical] effects and we're trying to show the lifestyle in three
really concise spots.'

The commercials were shot on 16- millimeter film for a grainy,
scratchy feel. Stark lighting plays up the contrasts and dull,
washed-out colors lend further impact to the purposefully jerky camera
shots and rapid shifts between disturbing images of needles entering
veins, wafting meth pipes and twitching limbs.

The combined effect is reminiscent of the latest generation of
psychological horror films, and has elicited such comparisons from
viewers.

'All the kids are saying it looks like the trailer of 'Saw," Davis
said.

Shooting the commercials in Los Angeles also gave Davis access to
Hollywood-level production talent, including a director from the
Showtime network and makeup artists from the popular crime drama 'CSI.'

The real stars, however, were the actors, all of whom were recovering
meth addicts. Davis said the actors, most in their late teens, drew
from their own experiences to bring a degree of authenticity to the
commercials that no amount of special effects could provide.

'They said 'No, you light it like this on a piece of tin foil, and
then [after taking a hit] your eyes roll back in your head,' Davis
said. 'It's like you have all these creative consultants.'

At times, however, Davis feared the realism of the scenes might have
become too much for actors.

'There was a situation for one or two of the people where it did bring
back memories,' Davis said. 'Someone was sitting in a situation with a
pipe and they were smoking -- it was just sugar -- and they were
creating smoke with it and we were worried.

'I've never had that experience with a shoot. I was worried someone
was going to relapse because we were bringing that situation back.'

Davis also struggled with the double-edged nature of such a grim
campaign: play down the reality of meth addiction and chance the
failure of the entire campaign; become too graphic and risk having the
commercials dismissed as unbelievable.

'I've got much worse situations -- people burning themselves, people
using needles all over,' Davis said. 'At some point you've just got to
draw the line.'

Reactions

Still, the one and half minutes it took Riley and several other
government officials to view the finished commercials were tense ones
for Davis.

'I was a little hesitant to know if I went too far,' he
said.

The governor quickly put those fears to rest.

'I was really shocked by how disturbing the images were, and I think
that's exactly what you need to get young people's attention,' Riley
said in an e-mail.

And they have. The campaign has garnered regional media attention and
prompted inquries from other states looking to start similar programs.

Zerometh.com has received more than 15,000 hits since the ad campaign
debuted Feb. 22. Many visitors have shared their own experiences with
meth addiction or those of a friend or family member. Nearly all the
comments about the campaign itself have been favorable.

'I can count on one hand the negative responses we've had with 15,000
hits on the Web site,' Davis said.

The campaign has even caught the attention of graduate students in
UA's advertising program. Bree Beckham and a handful of others in the
program received permission to show the commercials to 150 UA
students, mostly freshmen, giving each student a pre- and post-test to
judge changes in attitude.

Although the results of the study have yet to be calculated, Beckham
said a cursory review of the responses suggests the gritty nature of
the ads has proven effective.

'From what I've read a lot of people were really taken by the
cinematography -- the quick shifts, jerky camera -- then by just the
physical effects of meth use,' Beckham said.

Next steps

Davis said he wants the Zerometh Web site to become a way for
volunteers from communities, rehabilitation programs and drug
education centers to coordinate with law enforcement.

Meanwhile, the next step from an advertising point of view is further
development of the Zerometh brand.

'I want it to be as relevant as Nike or McDonalds is,' Davis said. 'I
want it to be as relevant as Facebook or YouTube.'

McCool said the district attorneys association will follow up the
blanket statewide campaign with localized media spots and public
education efforts. Plans have already been made to distribute T-shirts
emblazoned with the Zerometh logo to high school students.

Both McCool and Davis acknowledged that developing the Zerometh
message will take time, money and patience, but said that every young
person who is successfully steered away from the drug will more than
repay their efforts.

McCool counts his 10-year-old son, who saw one of the commercials
while watching television one night, among those early successes.

'He said, 'It scares me daddy, and it makes me never want to get on
the stuff."

And I thought to myself, 'At least we got one younger person's
attention."