U.S. STARTS PAID AD CAMPAIGN AGAINST DRUGS

The White House's drug policy agency will introduce its first paid national
advertising Thursday as part of its fight against drug use among
adolescents.

President Clinton will join Gen. Barry McCaffrey, the director of the
Office of National Drug Control Policy, in Atlanta to introduce the
campaign, the largest government-financed social marketing effort to date.
It will have an initial budget of $195 million, appropriated by Congress,
and will involve television, radio, print, billboards and interactive
media. The decision to spend taxpayer money to finance the aggressive
anti-drug campaign is a marked change from the government's longtime policy
of watching from the sidelines as advertising and media professionals
coordinated unpaid anti-drug messages as public service advertising. "For
the first time we will be able to buy the time slots in the best media
vehicles," said Thomas Hedrick, vice chairman of the Partnership for a
Drug-Free America in New York, "just like Nike or McDonald's or Pepsi does
on a regular basis."

The partnership, a nonprofit coalition of advertising and media
professionals, has supervised the anti-drug pro bono campaign since 1987.
Though the media have donated the equivalent of more than $2.5 billion
worth of commercial time and ad space for anti-drug advertising, Hedrick
said, the organization has found it increasingly difficult to reach
specific audiences with specific ads because the pro bono campaigns depend
on the availability of time and space.

For instance, in a strong economy, exposure in desirable places like
popular prime-time TV series is difficult to obtain, and many public
service spots are relegated to late-night time slots when few if any of the
intended viewers are watching.

"We're going to pay for the precise placement we need to get the right
message to the right audience," Hedrick said, "with enough frequency to
change attitudes and, over time, drug behavior."

The national paid campaign comes after a six-month test in 12 cities,
including Atlanta, Baltimore, Denver, Hartford, San Diego and Tucson, Ariz.
Each year for the next four years, Congress will be asked to appropriate an
additional $195 million to continue the campaign.

The ads, which will begin appearing Thursday, will be a mix of work already
produced for the partnership and new spots.

In an interesting twist, the media that will be selling the paid time and
space will be asked for such bonus or in-kind contributions as public
service advertising or programs or articles addressing drug issues. For
example, a TV network that receives ad dollars for anti-drug commercials
may agree to run an episode of a sitcom in which a character confronts the
problem of drug abuse or may produce a segment on drug policy for a news
magazine show.

In the test markets, Hedrick said, the media matched the paid ads with
bonus contributions.

The television part of the paid campaign is scheduled to appear Thursday
night on the four main broadcast networks -- ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC -- and
on CNN. The goal is for anti-drug spots to run about 9:15 Eastern time, on
the five networks in a TV tactic known as a roadblock. The Daily Fax
edition of Advertising Age said that other cable networks like ESPN2, ESPN
News, MTV and VH1 had also committed to run spots at about the same time.
The plans call for ABC to run an anti-heroin commercial recently created
for the partnership by Margeotes/Fertitta & Partners in New York. The spot
updates the famous "This is your brain on drugs" commercial by showing a
woman wrecking a kitchen with a frying pan to simulate the effect that
heroin can have on a life.

CBS is scheduled to run a spot aimed at parents that features actor Carroll
O'Connor, whose son died after years of drug abuse. On Fox, teen-age
viewers are the intended audience for a commercial with the rap star Chuck
D. The spot planned for NBC is aimed at young parents, and the spot on CNN,
to run during "Larry King Live," is also aimed at parents, addressing the
need to discuss drugs with their children.

The print part of the campaign is set to begin Thursday in big-city
newspapers. One hard-hitting ad, titled "Disconnect," is meant to
illustrate a generation gap about drugs. A photograph of a woman is
accompanied by these words: "My kid doesn't smoke pot. He's either at
school, soccer practice, piano lessons or at a friend's house." Underneath
is a photograph of a boy, who says, "I usually get stoned at school, after
soccer practice, before piano lessons or at my friend's house."

The ads for the paid campaign are being donated by agencies through the
partnership, which is serving as an unpaid consultant and will receive no
Federal money. Media planning and buying are being handled by Bates USA in
New York, part of Cordiant Communications Group PLC, and Zenith Media
Services in New York, which is owned by Cordiant and Saatchi & Saatchi PLC.
Though many Americans consider anti-drug advertising a necessary component
of the federal war on drugs, some perceive the ambitious crusade as money
ill spent. Ethan Nadelmann, director of the Lindesmith Center in New York,
a drug policy research organization that is part of the Open Society
Institute sponsored by financier George Soros, said: "For the past 10
years, our nation's kids have been bombarded with anti-drug messages, and
it is these same kids who are experimenting with more drugs. While these
ads are well intended, this money could be better spent on programs that
are proven effective in reducing drug use, such as after-school programs
and treatment on demand."

Hedrick, needless to say, disagreed. "I don't understand how it is a big
waste of money," he said. "We have seen in independent research a strong
and consistent correlation between exposure of anti-drug messages and
improving anti-drug attitudes and behavior." "There is simply no more
cost-effective way" to deter drug use, he added, "than by investing 1
percent of the federal anti-drug budget in this public-private partnership."

Still, Hedrick said, "the proof will be in the pudding." The partnership is
awaiting the results of research from the 12 test markets, which are
expected sometime in the fall, he said. There will also be research to
evaluate the effectiveness of the national paid campaign. Other
organizations are also offering their assistance. The American Advertising
Federation in Washington -- which represents agencies, media and marketers
- -- will serve as a clearinghouse for matching public service advertising in
100 local markets where the paid campaign will appear. And the Advertising
Council in New York -- the nonprofit organization that coordinates public
service campaigns for the agency and media industries -- will serve as a
clearinghouse for matching public service advertising nationally.