The U.S. selected Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide as its private partner in the prestigious White House advertising campaign to eradicate youth drug abuse. The decision gives the Madison Avenue powerhouse a new $762.1 million contract with the government and a significant advantage in its struggle to remain the key private player in a public-health advertising effort that lately has suffered some embarrassing blows. "To the surprise of a lot of people, Ogilvy has retained this very important contract," says Rich Hamilton, chief executive of Zenith Optimedia Group in New York, one of the agencies that was a finalist in an eight-month showdown for the prize advertising assignment. "It is a huge shock to a lot of us." [continues 680 words]
In a surprise decision, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy has kept the New York office of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, part of the WPP Group, as its agency for media services, research and strategy. Ogilvy has handled the assignments, with billings estimated at $152 million, since December 1998. The decision, made Wednesday after an 11-month review, was unexpected because the review was called after the government accused Ogilvy of overbilling and leveled civil and criminal charges against the agency. In February, Ogilvy agreed to a $1.8 million settlement of the civil charges. The criminal investigation, centered on whether Ogilvy employees altered time sheets, is continuing. "We're delighted to continue to work with" the antidrug office, Ogilvy executives said in a statement. Ogilvy had maintained that the problems were inadvertent errors in timekeeping, stemming from inexperience in handling government contracts. Ogilvy has since revamped its accounting system to comply with government standards. [continues 179 words]
LAFAYETTE - "This will make you feel great!" read the words printed next to the face of an attractive girl holding a small pill. "(or kill you.)" It was one of 11 anti-drug public service announcements unveiled Tuesday at a news conference by a partnership of the Lafayette Parish Medical Society and Lafayette General Medical Center. The announcements - scheduled to begin running in local media this month - take a different aim than antidrug messages of the past, focusing on designer drugs and the misuse of prescription medicines rather than marijuana and cocaine. [continues 324 words]
If $1 billion in television advertising can't keep kids off drugs, then what can? That's the question parents, educators and government officials are asking after a survey revealed last week that the nation's most prominent antidrug campaign has been largely ineffective. Despite five years of huge spending on flashy antidrug ads with numerous celebrities like the Dixie Chicks and Mary J. Blige, teenage drug use remains alarmingly high. Today, 54% of kids have tried an illicit drug before they leave high school, sharply up from a low of 41% in 1992 and about the same as the pot-smoking heyday of 1975. [continues 879 words]
WASHINGTON - So much for those flashy TV ads intended to inspire American kids to stay off drugs . The new U.S. drug czar, John P. Walters, says the government's antidrug advertising of recent years has failed. Worse, he fears it even may have inspired some youngsters to experiment with marijuana. "This campaign isn't reducing drug use," said Mr. Walters, who became head of the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy earlier this year. Mr. Walters was openly critical of the ads even before taking office, and argued that the advertising effort was in dire need of an overhaul. Now, he said, he is armed with survey data that support his suspicions that the campaign hasn't worked. [continues 1110 words]
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration's new antidrug advertising campaign seeks to strike a chord with young people by linking drug use to supporting terrorism. But it has struck a nerve with critics who contend the message is inappropriate and goes too far. The criticism, from both traditional foes of White House drug policy and individuals who typically support antidrug messages, has produced parodies, editorials, debate and even research, although the advertisements have been out for only two months. Proponents call the advertisements powerful and factual. Critics say that the link between drug use and terrorism is overreaching wartime propaganda. [continues 847 words]
WASHINGTON - "Timmy," a fresh-faced teenager, stares from the TV screen and says matter-of-factly: "I killed grandmas. I killed daughters. I killed firemen. I killed policemen." Then he adds, casually: "Technically, I didn't kill these people. I just kind of helped." A message at the bottom of the screen carries an ominous warning: "Where do terrorists get their money? If you buy drugs, some of it may come from you." Timmy and several other teens are the stars of a powerful, provocative advertising campaign from the White House drug control office that uses more than $10 million in taxpayer funds to link the war on drugs to the war on terrorism. [continues 547 words]
The recent overbilling scandal involving Madison Avenue ad agency Ogilvy & Mather is neither gone nor forgotten. The powerhouse agency, a unit of WPP Group of London, earlier this month agreed to pay $1.8 million to settle charges that it overbilled the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the White House agency behind the prestigious and controversial advertising campaign linking drug use to terrorism. But in New York, a criminal probe into whether employees at Ogilvy altered time sheets on the antidrug account is gaining steam, according to people familiar with the situation. And Tuesday, Washington lawmakers asked the nation's new drug czar whether the venerable advertising agency should continue to work on the account. [continues 601 words]
He proposed $357 million more for the drug fight. One goal: A 10 percent drop in usage in two years. WASHINGTON - Seeking to cut illegal drug use by 10 percent in two years, President Bush yesterday unveiled a new national drug policy that emphasizes treatment. The President is proposing to spend $357 million more next year on antidrug efforts. He wants two-thirds of that - $224 million - to go toward drug treatment and research. In total, the President is seeking to spend $19.2 billion to fight illegal drugs, a problem he said "wreaks havoc on the very fabric that provides stability for our society." [continues 465 words]
You may have seen commercials that begin with "Where do terorists get their money?" and end with "If you buy drugs, some of it might come from you." This is the latest ad campaign aimed at teenagers from the White House that links the war on drugs with the war on terrorism. The message implies that if you start or don't stop taking drugs, you are supporting Osama bin Laden and other terrorist networks that are funded by drug money. But to many people, mixing the old war on drugs with the new war on terrorism seems to be a stretch. The strategy may even be counter-productive. [continues 3892 words]
Who bought some of the last advertising spots to be sold for this Sunday's Super Bowl? You did. But American taxpayers also got a great deal, thanks to the current ad recession. During the final moments of its efforts to pull in advertisers for this weekend's game, News Corp.'s Fox made some unusual concessions to buyers, including the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. In a deal struck late last week with the antidrug agency, Fox agreed to broadcast two new commercials for a major government antidrug campaign linking the rise in terrorism to illegal drug use. Congress mandates that media outlets that take paid advertising from this particular agency are required to cover at least half of the cost of the effort with a so-called media match. [continues 882 words]
NEW YORK -- Questionable billing on a high-profile antidrug advertising campaign has the government searching for an agency to replace Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, a unit of WPP Group PLC of London. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy intends to rebid its advertising contract with Ogilvy next month to restore confidence in the integrity of its public-health campaign. Recently, Rep. Bob Barr (R., Ga.) asked President Bush to fire Ogilvy amid a criminal investigation of questionable billing practices by the agency. [continues 233 words]
Paula is taking me on a driving tour of Man, the tiny West Virginia town where she has spent her entire life. Because I don't know my way around the hollows and gullies and creeks that carve through these hills, Paula is at the wheel. And because Paula isn't a morning person, we've set out on our tour at midnight. It's dark; the only illumination comes from our headlights cutting through the mist that rolls down from the hills. [continues 7743 words]
At least since 1996, when voters in California and Arizona approved ballot initiatives legalizing the medical use of marijuana, Americans have been trying to send the same message to Washington, D.C.: The nation's escalating, $20-billion drug war is a disastrous and costly failure that is stuffing the prisons, ruining thousands of lives both here and abroad, and producing few perceptible gains--except maybe in the careers of politicians. With every passing year, the message becomes louder. In elections that followed passage of the California and Arizona initiatives, similar measures have been passed in Oregon, Washington State, Maine, Alaska, Colorado, and Nevada, many of them by overwhelming majorities. Last year a medical-marijuana bill was also approved by the Hawaii legislature and signed by the governor. [continues 4782 words]
Tues. July 17, 2001 8PM Eastern/5PM Pacific - NY Times Drug Policy Forum: Steve and Michele Kubby Sun. July 22, 2001 8PM Eastern/5PM Pacific - Drugsense Chat Room: Steve and Michele Kubby Future guests already scheduled in the series include Al Giordano, Renee Boje, and Al Robison. See http://www.cultural-baggage.com/schedule.htm for details. On Monday, July 9, the NYTimes.com's Drug Policy forum hosted Keith Stroup, founder of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, NORML. This discussion was part of the speaker series organized by forum participants. [continues 3283 words]
WASHINGTON, May 10 - President Bush today nominated as his drug czar John P. Walters, who has long argued for jail time over voluntary treatment for drug offenders, calling him the man to battle illegal drugs that rob people "of innocence and ambition and hope." Mr. Bush's choice of the conservative Mr. Walters to head the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy was criticized by groups that want to emphasize curing drug addiction rather than punishing drug offenders or cutting off the supply of narcotics. [continues 870 words]
But McCaffrey Sees Some Positive Signs Despite the commitment of record amounts of money to fight drug abuse, the number of drug-related episodes in emergency rooms is at historic highs and drug use among youths remains significantly higher than when President Clinton entered office, according to figures in a national report on drug policy to be released today. The sobering news comes in the final report on drugs by the Clinton administration, which shifted the country's philosophy and funding on drug abuse with the appointment of Barry R. McCaffrey as drug czar in 1996. The administration increased spending almost 50 percent since then: to $19.2 billion this year from $13.4 billion in 1996, an average increase of more than $1 billion a year. [continues 878 words]
WASHINGTON - A New York ad firm in control of the Clinton administration's antidrug media campaign acknowledged "possible errors" in its bills to the government during a meeting Nov. 29 with Justice Department litigators, officials confirmed yesterday. Ogilvy & Mather said in a statement last night that it voluntarily approached the civil division of the Justice Department, but the company refused to give details on the questionable billings to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. A past analysis alleged that the firm could be overbilling the government by several million dollars. [continues 462 words]
WASHINGTON - A New York advertising firm in control of the Clinton administration's antidrug media campaign acknowledged ''possible errors'' in its bills to the government during a meeting Nov. 29 with Justice Department litigators, officials confirmed yesterday. Ogilvy & Mather said in a statement last night that it voluntarily approached the civil division of the Justice Department, but the company refused to give details on the questionable billings to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. A past analysis alleged that the firm could be overbilling the government by several million dollars. [continues 383 words]
Every student at Harvard Business School over the past decade has come across the name Jim Burke in the curriculum. As CEO of Johnson & Johnson in the 1980s, Mr. Burke won acclaim for his deft handling of the Tylenol tamperings. His management of that crisis is held up today as a model of corporate responsibility. But Mr. Burke has also led another, far more difficult management task: keeping American kids off drugs. As chairman since 1989 of a non-profit called Partnership for a Drug-Free America, Mr. Burke has overseen the creation of the largest public service campaign in the history advertising-some $3 billion in donated media space for antidrug ads. The ads, more than 600 since 1989, are the best in the business, created pro bono, thanks to Mr. Burke's efforts, by the most creative talents on Madison Avenue. They've won all the top awards in the industry. Among our favorites is the "fried egg" ad: A picture of a egg sizzling in a skillet with the tag line, "This is your brain on drugs." [continues 143 words]
