Health News
2005-10-05
Chicago meth
campaign enters second phase
“Crystal
Breaks,” a yearlong advertising campaign designed to
deter crystal meth use among Chicago gay men, entered
“Crystal
Breaks,” a yearlong advertising campaign designed to
deter crystal meth use among Chicago gay men, entered
its second phase with a sobering television commercial
now airing on popular cable channels.
The 30-second
spot begins with an attractive man high on the drug and
ends with the user’s body combusting and shattering
into pieces. Airing in Chicago on the Bravo, TLC, and
MTV networks, the ads are part of the Chicago Crystal
Meth Task Force’s awareness campaign.
“The
campaign targets the homosexual population because they are
more at risk, but it doesn’t matter who you
are, because crystal meth is such a huge
epidemic,” said Erin Donahue, corporate affairs
representative at Leo Burnett USA, the parent company
of advertising agency Lapiz, which created the
campaign pro bono.
“We’re hoping to get more national attention
and eventually air [the commercials]
nationwide,” Donahue said.
The television
advertising is coordinated with print ads, outside
billboards, radio spots, and a Web site that all carry the
same message: Meth shatters lives.
This marketing
phase follows the campaign's surprise kickoff, which
played out during Chicago’s Northalsted Market Days
festival on August 6. During an act by drag queen Lady
Bunny, a glass-encased image of two men embracing was
shown to the audience, and minutes later four recovering
meth users took hammers to the glass. Simultaneously, two
banners on each side of the stage unfurled, revealing
statistics about the drug. (Neal Broverman,
Advocate.com)
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