resource: the truth

Time for another resource: www.thetruth.com

            www.thetruth.com was an interesting website and offered a lot of insight into a well formulated media campaign directed at adolescents.  The graphics, the articles, even the language were scripted directly toward the target audience (TA).

             

            From the first click onto the website, there are references to free tickets to see bands, video games to download, ‘cooler’ teen heroes like skateboarder Tony Hawk, and a graffiti artist in action.  The overall feeling from my perspective is that there was a lot of research that went into this site, and continues to be done to help the site stay updated and relevant.  The fact that I am a bit removed from being a teen, and in fact have a daughter who is 13, makes it hard for me to know if teens would find this site as ‘cool’ as I did.  

        

            The “We (heart) Smokers” aspect of the site was a way to make sure that the teens did not feel like they were being told what to do.   The idea is that the truth campaign wants the teens to be informed and make their own decisions.  But the underlying fact is that the campaign is doing a good job of highlighting the costs of smoking while decreasing the benefits.  Farrelly (2005) discussed the impact of the truth campaign on American adolescents in his study.  It was evident that telling teens what to do was a bad idea so that was avoided.  Instead, teens were given gruesome facts about the effects of smoking and given the opportunity to draw their own conclusions.  The TA was also presented with videos of TEENS fighting back against the tobacco industry.  This borrows from Social Network Theory because it has teens introducing the concept to other teens.  The truth campaign website has the feel that teens are producing it.

            Lastly, the truth campaign definitely has a firm grasp on Social Marketing especially when it comes to social networking sites.  The campaign has a presence on facebook, twitter and youtube as well as the video games.  There is also a blog that seems to reach the TA in several ways including videos, scare tactics, events, facts, more games and even a little national policy.  It is not often that you see a website that is as up-to-date and fresh as this one.  I am sure that there are significant costs involved to keep it looking as effortless and youthful.

Farrelly, M. C., Davis, K. C., Haviland, M., Healton, C. G., & Messeri, P. (2005). Evidence of a Dose-Response Relationship Between "truth" Antismoking Ads and Youth Smoking Prevalence. American Journal Of Public Health, 95(3), 425-431.