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truth® Summer Tour Extends to TV with Integrated Content on MTV, CW
10/6/2009
Extension of tour through Television Integrations
truth®, the nation’s largest smoking prevention campaign for youth, gives teens the facts and information they need to make informed choices about tobacco use, by reaching them through media and at events where they naturally gather and share information: popular music and sporting events, online, through social networks and on the television shows they watch. truth®-related content will appear in several media outlets this fall, using video and interviews captured during the recent summer tour.
MTV
MTV will air truth®-related mini-episodes based on its popular show, MADE, that follow two young adults trying to make it on the truth® crew. MADE is a series that offers young adults the opportunity to make their dreams come true with dedication, hard work and a little help from MTV. The “MADE: the truth® rider challenge” segments show just how hard the truth® crew works to help save lives, by making the campaign’s messages approachable and fun for teens who interact with the crew each summer in the truth® zone.
The “MADE: the truth® rider challenge” segments are airing during full-length episodes of MADE, starting October 3, and will run throughout the month of October. MTV’s cameras capture the struggles of Jeremy Gotwals and Natalie Kosal, two former MADE kids as they embark on a mission to spread the word about Big Tobacco’s tactics. Along the way, Jeremy and Natalie will be pushed to their limits as they learn about Big Tobacco, life on the road and how to impress their truth® rider mentors. In the ten mini-episodes, the pair learn everything about venue set-up, fan interaction, public speaking techniques, and a whole lot more while competing head to head in hilarious and terrifying stunts each and every day. In the end, one of them will be offered the chance to return as a truth® rider in the fall!
"Developing original integrated content has been a growing priority for the truth® brand,” said Eric Asche, Senior Vice President of Marketing, at the American Legacy Foundation®. Through our partnership with MTV, we are extending our life-saving message through some of the most relevant delivery channels available."
truth® and MTV have a successful history of creating custom entertainment that entertains teens while also educating them about the consequences of tobacco use. Most recently, MTV and truth® created a tongue-in-cheek spin-off of MTV’s popular reality-contest show, “Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Island.” The mini-program, called The Blaze, pit fictional contestants against one another in challenges that mirrored those on The Island, but that illustrated the marketing tactics of the tobacco industry and the dangers of tobacco use. Using satire and dark humor, the challenges on The Blaze vividly illustrated the seriousness of the tobacco issue, as most of the contestants wind up injured, maimed, or even eaten by “sea monsters.”
For more background on MADE, please visit: www.mtv.com/shows/made/series.jhtml#moreinfo.
MADE: The truth® Rider Challenge campaign was a collaborative effort by the American Legacy Foundation and its media and creative partners, PHD and Arnold Worldwide. PHD created the provocative, award-winning campaign for the second season of HBO’s True Blood, as well as orchestrated prior Legacy tie-ins with MTV’s Real World and CW’s Vampire Diaries.
CW
On CWtv.com, truth® sponsored a four-part webisode series, “The Vampire Diaries: A Darker Truth,” where the lead character featured in the video series can be seen wearing truth®-related clothing. The sponsorship ran from August 17 through September 30.
The clothing was created especially for the truth® tours. Teens and youth who interact with the crews on tour all receive truth®-branded “gear” like tote bags, bracelets, t-shirts and more. All of the gear is created using images cool enough for teens to wear, yet the items still spread important messages about tobacco use and the tobacco industry. The goal of such giveaways is to create innovative and fashion-forward gear items that empower young people with knowledge about tobacco.
Recap
truth® wrapped up its 10th annual nationwide summer tour in August. Traveling throughout the United States, young adult truth® “crew members” interacted with youth across the country at local stops of popular summer musical and sporting events, all in an effort to educate young people about the health effects and social consequences of tobacco use.
Every year, truth® crews connect with more than 500,000 teens, allowing teens to experience the truth® campaign first-hand. This year, two crews and their signature orange “truth® trucks” made more than 60 stops across 25 states, traveling to some of the season’s hottest teen-oriented events.
Through a grant from the CDC, truth® recently launched a fall tour (http://www.americanlegacy.org/3244.aspx) in seven states in order to extend the summer tour and the campaign’s reach to smaller, rural markets, especially underserved communities.
BACKGROUND ON THE truth® CAMPAIGN
truth®, launched in February 2000, is the largest national youth smoking prevention campaign and the only national campaign not directed by the tobacco industry. The campaign exposes the tactics of the tobacco industry, the truth about addiction, and the health effects and social consequences of smoking. truth® allows teens to make informed choices about tobacco use by giving them the facts about the industry and its products.
The American Legacy Foundation® is dedicated to building a world where young people reject tobacco and anyone can quit. Located in Washington, D.C., the foundation develops programs that address the health effects of tobacco use, especially among vulnerable populations disproportionately affected by the toll of tobacco, through grants, technical assistance and training, partnerships, youth activism, and counter-marketing and grassroots marketing campaigns. The foundation’s programs include truth®, a national youth smoking prevention campaign that has been cited as contributing to significant declines in youth smoking; EX®, an innovative public health program designed to speak to smokers in their own language and change the way they approach quitting; research initiatives exploring the causes, consequences and approaches to reducing tobacco use; and a nationally-renowned program of outreach to priority populations. The American Legacy Foundation was created as a result of the November 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) reached between attorneys general from 46 states, five U.S. territories and the tobacco industry. Visit http://www.americanlegacy.org/.
The American Legacy Foundation® is equipped with a VideoLink ReadyCam™ television studio system, providing you with faster, easier access to the nation’s leading tobacco prevention and cessation experts. From this in-house broadcast studio, Legacy can offer immediate access to its experts to comment on breaking news, new research publications, or any news related to youth smoking prevention, adult quit smoking programs, or any issue related to smoking. The studio is connected directly to the Vyvx fiber network and is always available for live or pre-taped interviews. To arrange an interview using the ReadyCam, please contact Julia Cartwright at 202-454-5596.
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Contact: Stephen Winkler, 215.525.1106, swinkler@ad-itive.com; Patricia McLaughlin, 202-454-5560, pmclaughlin@americanlegacy.org