The United Way of Greater Milwaukee

Last semester, at Marquette, I had the privilege of creating a 360 degree ad campaign for the United Way of Greater Milwaukee. I was to select a currently existing campaign, and then create a new one that would continue the success of an already existing campaign. The campaign I chose was in regards to one of their programs, Healthy Girls. This is a program designed to educate young women in Milwaukee about the dangers of being a young woman in today's world.

The ads for this campaign are incredibly good at grabbing your attention, and drawing you into the ad. From their bus shelter signage, to their posters, and their billboards, it is all aimed at the ultimate goal of keeping young women informed. They do a great job, but there is one area of affect, that they might not have considered when creating the campaign; they "Villianize" men.

I felt they had done an incredible job at gaining the attention of young women, and the statistics associated with teen pregnancy and infant mortality have shown this to be true. However, I do feel as if the ads have the potential to damage the self-image of young men. So, when I made my campaign, I focused on encouraging young men to be gentlemen and women to be lady-like. As opposed to demonizing men in order to educate women.

Here are some of their ads:



They're great, right? Yes, but if we look a little close at the message being communicated, it sounds less constructive towards increasing the positive relationship between young men and women. For example, in the first ad, the bottom caption assumes that young men aren't aware of statutory rape laws, and that they do as they please with underage women. This isn't true beyond a small percentage of men, who give the lot of us a bad rap. I feel the most effective marketing targets both genders, and definitely doesn't demonize one side or the other.

Now, mind you, I am not a pro at ad design, but I wanted to share a few of the mock-ads I did for the United Way of Greater Milwaukee. My campaign focused on iterating the fact that, condom use, is common sense. Therefore, Condom Sense was born.

I feel that they did a great job, the goal they were after was accomplished, and is still effective at ultimately reducing teen pregnancy and infant mortality. I just wonder how the negative portrayal of the expectations we have for young men will effect the young men who are touched by the ads.

"Give a man a fish, you feed him for the day. Teach a man to fish, you feed him for life." -Anne Isabella Ritchie, from her book Mrs. Dymond