MEDIA'S MIXED MESSAGES

The messages the media presents us aren't hard to understand if you're
paying attention.

The government says marijuana may support such objectionable effects as
racial stereotyping, teenage pregnancy, violence and even terrorism.

NBC says their new TV series, Kingpin, would thrive as its cable
counterpart The Sopranos did comparatively. No problems so far. The problem
lies wherein the multi-billion dollar anti-drug ad, funded by the
government, airs on NBC seconds before the lucrative and rather tasteless
ad for Kingpin, thus creating the mixed messages America's youth has to
filter through in order to find morals and principle.

In recent years, the government has utilized the most consumed form of mass
media in order to fight the war on drugs and America's New War, terrorism.
A collection of anti-drug television ads, geared toward teens and
20-somethings, have made an effort to exploit the painful truths of such
drugs as marijuana, ecstasy and GHB and their assumed association with
terrorism. While the ads are by no means cheap, they are also statistically
unsuccessful and factually incorrect.

Nevertheless, a good effort and a clever way to use the media to their
advantage.

In recent weeks, NBC launched their six episode series Kingpin, a sloppy
account of a Hispanic drug lord, his family and the American law
enforcement's attempts to get closer to him. The series, introduced to
boost ratings and draw the amount of attention that its cable parallel, The
Sopranos, has, relentlessly glorifies drug addiction and transaction and
offers no consequence for such acts as trafficking, child abuse, spousal
abuse, adultery or even murder.

And what's worse, the American law enforcement is represented by a couple
of dim-witted, uniformed officers being pushed around by their superior,
thus becoming ineffective.

During the Super Bowl, as every ad fanatic and enthusiast watched-not for
the score, but for the ads scattered throughout the event-a rather
scandalous anti-drug ad ran depicting an otherwise happy couple waiting for
the results of an at-home pregnancy test. (Personally, I thought the ad was
for a sale on EPT at your local drug store.) There was little sound other
than background and copy flashed on the screen to the effect of: "Their
lives are going to change." "Everything is going to be different." "What
are people going to say?" All the while, you see only the couple waiting,
as the line turns blue. The last 'line' of copy says: "They are going to be
the youngest grandparents in town," and the camera pans over to their
teenage daughter, sitting on the toilet, crying.

The screen fades to black and the ending copy reads: "Marijuana impairs
your judgment." Not only does this ad contain an element of surprise, it is
cleverly done by a rather prestigious ad agency.

But no sooner than you can process the message, a fast-paced, scantly clad
Kingpin ad is screaming at you, letting you in on all of the new series'
little secrets, imploring you to tune in to the premier.

I have in fact watched Kingpin and found it to be a trivial account of such
a lifestyle and I can't say I agree with the assumption that marijuana use
or purchase lead to the terrorist bombings of 9-11. I do however, find it
increasingly disquieting that one would expect someone younger, and perhaps
with a less-than-adequate education, would be able to decipher much from
this combination of advertisements. This poor arrangement of advertising
not only blurs the line between reality and fiction, it wastes the
anti-drug message altogether, making the ad a complete waste of money.

And the problem there lies within your wasted tax dollars.