By Dan Singer
A group of BYU advertising students work is about to receive nationwide attention.
The Office of National Drug Control Policy picked the BYU advertising students' campaign to begin airing this summer as the next chapter of the group's nationwide ad campaign.
The class of senior advertising students, led by Professor Doug McKinlay, beat out a major Los Angeles advertising firm by developing an advertising scheme that affirmed that teens did positive things with their lives, including abstaining from marijuana.
In the spring of 2003, ad agency Ogilvy & Mather sent a creative brief to McKinlay outlining the ONDCP's 'positive messaging' campaign strategy.
The students were given several weeks to develop concepts that they would present to the class and to Kevin Kelly, creative director at Ogilvy.
The assignment was a difficult one. The ONDCP asked for a campaign that would empower teens to choose to not smoke marijuana and that would also help create a growing movement of kids who regularly choose not to use drugs.
Because of the stiff, professional competition the students faced, it was unlikely that their campaign ideas would ever be chosen.
'For us, it was an academic exercise with the slimmest chances of ever seeing the light of day,' McKinlay said.
McKinlay sent the ad strategies to New York for appraisal. Four campaigns from BYU were approved; none of the major professionals' campaigns were.
The ad campaigns were revised by McKinlay and the students, and then sent to be tested by audiences in Portland, Ore., and New York City.
One BYU campaign, titled 'scan me,' proved to be so popular that BYU was offered the chance to produce a fully integrated campaign of TV, radio and print ads.
The 'scan me' campaign talent consists of teens, scouted from local high schools, declaring that they too choose not to use drugs.
One print ad depicts a student sitting on a file cabinet drawer. The copy reads, 'Filed under: Pothead. Kids these days are just a bunch of pot-smoking slackers, right? WRONG. I'm a writer, a halfback, and the last thing I smoked was an entire defense. Drugs aren't me. My life. My decision.'
'The campaign is kind of fresh, kind of raw,' Kelly said. 'I think what was really interesting is that the students are as close to this problem as anyone can be. They were able to communicate in a way the big agencies couldn't.
'It has an edge to it. It could be angry, but it isn't. It shows that you can present this message with a smile, with a twist.'
The entire project was written, filmed and recorded in less than a month.
Professor Chris Cutri filmed the TV spots at the BYU motion picture studios. Radio ads were recorded at KBYU/FM.
Former BYU student Michael Richardson wrote most of the copy for the 'scan me' campaign and worked closely with another former BYU student David Lan, art director on the project.
'It was a real-life project for us,' Lan said. 'Working for a real client put pressure on us, but being able to work with peers, with friends, made it easier. Doug working so closely with us also made it so much better.'
Lan now works for Ogilvy & Mather, and Richardson now works for the Los Angeles advertising firm that was passed over for the campaign in favor of BYU.
The campaign, funded by grants acquired by the Communications Department, would have cost the ONDCP $600,000 if it had been produced by a professional production company.