Ad Council & U.S. Army Launch Campaign to Give Teens a ‘Boost’ to Stay in School.

The Advertising Council and the U.S. Army joined today to launch a national public service advertising (PSA) campaign designed to prevent students from dropping out of high school. Created pro bono by ad agency JWT New York, the new “Boost” campaign is an extension of the Ad Council’s and the U.S. Army’s Operation Graduation initiative, which launched in 2000. The new PSAs feature stories of real teens throughout the country documenting their struggles to stay in high school.

One student drops out of high school every nine seconds in America, and the rate at which students leave high school between grades nine and ten has tripled over the last 30 years (Lehr, Johnson, Bremer, Cosio & Thompson, 2004). Today, 60% of adults who dropped out of high school are unemployed, compared to 40% of adults who only completed high school and 20% of who also have received a bachelor’s degree (Alliance for Excellent Education, 2003). In addition to increased unemployment, dropouts are often at a greater risk for drugs, gangs, poverty and teenage pregnancy. Furthermore, 75% of America’s state prison inmates are high school dropouts (Harlow, 2003).

In response to the widespread national dropout rate, the Ad Council and the U.S. Army launched Operation Graduation to communicate the importance of staying in school and obtaining a high school diploma. Previous advertising for the campaign has included traditional public service ads designed to encourage parents to help their kids stay in school, and others targeting the teens themselves. The new interactive “Boost” campaign includes television, radio, outdoor, video game and Internet advertising, intended to help create an identity, as well as to support and encourage those who may be at risk of
dropping out. The campaign encourages parents, coaches, mentors and friends to give struggling kids a “boost” to help them stay in school and graduate.

The campaign features ten at-risk high school seniors, the “Class of 06,” who are recording their struggles to stay in school by shooting documentary-style films of themselves and their friends/family using disposable video cameras. The students encourage others to submit their stories throughout the spring semester at a new website, http://www.Boostup.org. The PSAs are also available in Spanish. According to the U.S. Department of Education, 27% of Hispanic youth in America have dropped out of high school.

“Despite all that we have accomplished during the past six years, there are still hundreds of thousands of teens who make a life-altering decision to drop out of school each year,” according to Peggy Conlon, President and CEO of The Advertising Council. “This unique and compelling program will inspire students to join an interactive community where they can seek continuous support. Teens will see that they are not alone in their struggles, and parents and others will learn how they can give any teen in their life a ‘boost’ to help them stay in school and have a better chance for a successful future.”

“Education is a core value of the U.S. Army because it is essential to the future achievements of our youth. Staying in school, earning that needed high school diploma, continuing education and learning over a lifetime are key traits of successful citizens,” according to Kenneth O. Preston Sergeant Major of the Army.

The new TV spots were distributed to stations nationwide last week. Radio, outdoor, video game and Internet advertising created for the campaign will be available within the next few weeks. All of the new PSAs will air and run in advertising time and space that will be donated by the media. Since its launch in November 2000, the Operation Graduation campaign has received approximately $333 million in donated time and space from the media and it is frequently ranked among the top ten supported Ad Council campaigns.

New to the donated media mix this year is advertising through Massive Incorporated’s video game network. The Massive Network allows advertisers to reach gamers through real-time ad delivery across a wide range of top selling video games, reaching both at-risk students, as well as the people in their support networks.

“A common misconception with high school dropouts is that they are under achievers who take the easy way out, but this not the case at all,” said Robert Rasmussen, Creative Director, JWT. “Most have to overcome hardships and great odds on a daily basis. Gangs, poverty, lack of guidance are just some of the many obstacles in their way. The goal of Boost, Class of ’06 is to give actual at-risk students a voice by sharing their struggle via short films that offer glimpses into their everyday lives. Thus encourage recognition and support (in other words, a boost) to encourage them to graduate.”

Through the efforts of the more than 1 million soldiers in the active Army, Army National Guard and Army Reserve, the U.S. Army is the world’s premier land force. Today, more than 270,000 soldiers stand guard in defense of freedom in over 120 countries. Army soldiers are on the frontline in the ongoing war on terrorism and joint-service missions for the Department of Defense. The Army is 230 years old (as of June 14, 2006) and is a major part of a Transformation revolution for America’s future national defense needs.