CHILLIN' WITH UNCLE SAM

Feds to Teens: Just Say No, Dude

The strangest site on the Internet has to be freevibe.com. Check it out if
you're skeptical, and read the bizarre postings about the dangers of
illegal drugs. They are written in the style of Seventeen magazine, in
which grown-ups pepper their prose with the buzzwords of youth, like, uh,
cool, man. But you could browse a long time and learn all about young Jake
in the grip of addiction, "tabbing acid during basketball games," before
discovering that the man behind the site is in fact The Man.

You would never know it, but Freevibe is pure government issue, a product
of the Office of National Drug Control Policy in the White House. That
office is best known for sending armed agents into crack dens and having
its director, former general Barry MaCaffrey, tour Peru on a mission to
stop cocaine production in the Andes Mountains. But Freevibe is as much a
part of the war on drugs as the helicopters and crop eradication routines.
It is just a more covert salvo, and the war here is for the mind of
America's teens. This effort took a major step forward a few weeks ago,
when the White House launched Phase III of its $183-million-a-year National
Youth Anti-Drug Media campaign. Phase III of this blandly named program has
the astronomical ambition of cleaning up the culture's mixed messages about
drugs. "It is a comprehensive social marketing campaign," says Alan Levitt,
director of the NYADM. "The reason you are wearing your seat belt today is
because someone convinced a scriptwriter on those cops-and-robbers shows to
have the cop put on his seat belt before the car chase. So it's not just
ads, it's the whole culture, from faith-based organizations to the schools
to coaches to media and Internet. It's surround sound."

As a key territory on the media map, the Internet is must-win zone for the
government, if real change is to occur. And that means countering the
myriad pro-drug sites on the Net. In addition to revamping Freevibe.com to
better reach its target of 13-year-olds, Phase III calls for a widespread
Web ad campaign. High-volume sites will be asked to host celebrity chats
pushing the line that staying straight is cool. Another antidrug site for
kids, Project kNOw, is also slated for revision. AOL's search engines are
already onboard the new program. Just type in "drug" and you'll soon be
looking at a banner about the nightmare of cocaine, although you might not
realize it's Uncle Sam talking.

The result of this blitz will be to increase the reach of the antidrug
mantra. The goal, explained President Clinton at a press conference for the
campaign's new stage, is that "if you're a teenager or a parent, it is
nearly impossible to avoid seeing or hearing our antidrug messages."
Clinton promised it would eventually "outdo the Star Wars promotion."

But, unlike Star Wars, this campaign will be subtle--and fun! The Freevibe
model differs from Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" effort in that it lacks a
dour slogan. That's because a panel of behavioral scientists called in by
the White House drug policy office determined that harsh words and
ultimatums turn kids off. The soft sell is a more effective way to reach
vulnerable minds. "Scare tactics don't work too well. Neither do the
slogans," says Levitt. "We were very concerned about having this campaign
become a mockery on Saturday Night Live."

So don't expect to see many more commercials comparing a brain on drugs to
a fried egg. The future is in Freevibe--which has already won a prestigious
design award--where the message blends seamlessly with the medium in a
version of government propaganda that's barely distinguishable from
entertainment. Indeed, while every word of Freevibe is vetted by White
House-approved "experts in the field of advertising, youth behavior, and
youth focus groups," the ideas for copy flow through creative powerhouses
like Saatchi & Saatchi and Fleishman-Hillard, both of which are consultants
to the site. And the production of the slick layout was aided by none other
than Disney. Who else would have thought to include a game of Intergalactic
Escape along with copy that says, "Hey! There are thousands of things to do
that are (a) more fun, (b) cooler, (c) cheaper, (d) healthier and (e)
generally way better than drugs!" The list includes volunteering, sports,
and, at the top, "making money."

Click on "making money" and the site reminds teens of this universal
message: "It's all about the Benjamins, baby. Get a job, start a business,
get you some of those greenbacks!" Or, suggests Freevibe, pass the
drug-free time by cleaning out the closet, and "blast the Red Hot Chili
Peppers for inspiration." Several Chili Peppers, by the way, have publicly
admitted to using drugs.