The truth campaign is one of my favorite social marketing campaigns around. Its pervasiveness and edginess provide the perfect setting for the facts and visualizations that it disseminates to the public in an effort to end smoking completely. The power of this particular campaign is evidenced by its success in lowering teen smoking rates dramatically since the year 2000.
You have almost certainly seen at least one of the truth campaign’s commercials. They usually depict the extremely detrimental pitfalls of smoking tobacco with big, bold public demonstrations that have the ability to capture the attention and shock the psyches of almost anyone. Even more importantly, however, is the lasting impression these messages have on you. The ads force you to realize ways in which you have been manipulated and deceived by big tobacco companies or ways in which you are killing yourself or those you love; and they do it in a way you will remember.
The above ad is a mere 38 seconds, but the message is potent. It’s clear to anyone what the truth campaign is trying to convey to the public and they don’t beat around the bush. This campaign is known for going for the jugular of big tobacco companies, celebrities, and smokers themselves- publicly shaming them and taking no prisoners. Their website is even more powerful, but its not even necessary to visit the site to have been touched by their message- “the truth” has a YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Tumblr, and Instagram account in addition to spots on major networks such as MTV and VH1 (and even aired ads during the Grammy’s this year), which target younger generations in an effort to prevent smoking in the first place. You can go to their website and tweet, share, post, pin, or e-mail any of their infographics, videos, facts, and pictures- and they encourage you to be as far-reaching as you possibly can.
This campaign is extremely effective and a quick perusal of their site supplies all the information you could want about their substantial progress towards ending smoking. A variety of methods are used in support of this mission including shocking the public, demonizing the tobacco industry and celebrities who smoke, and supporting non-smoking young teens and adults- priding them on their achievement of being a nearly smoke-free generation, literally counting down the percentage of teens who smoke as it approaches ZERO.
Overall, I think social media campaigns are a wonderful tool for the 21st century. Social media is everywhere and it’s so easy to reach people because they take social media with them everywhere they go, every moment of the day and night. On the other hand, social media is no silver bullet. The design and aesthetics have to meet the expectations of your audience. People will only be intrigued by the flashiest, most impactful messages anymore so there is simply no room for the mundane. As a designer of a social media campaign, one has to turn education into entertainment. In the end, the “poster child” of the past has become the hashtag of today.
Here’s one more for the road: