TUSCALOOSA, AL January 7, 2013 — Here at The University of Alabama, students excel in more than just football. Tonight, students from the College of Communication and Information Sciences at UA have the chance to see their own public service announcement air in the Miami Sun Life Stadium at the BCS National Championship.
The PSA, filmed under direction of Shaquille O’Neal, features the message of the student-led, anti-binge drinking campaign, LessThanUThink.
The campaign focuses on the national problem of college-age binge drinking and reaches out to students through humorous messages that emphasize the negative social consequences of binge drinking.
Shaq agreed to participate in the PSA following a student-generated Twitter campaign and came to UA to film the 60-second spot on April 6, 2012. O’Neal had recently partnered with The Century Council (www.centurycouncil.org), the main funder of LTUT, to begin filming PSAs on the topic of anti-binge drinking.
“Hopefully after this PSA is released we can get at least half of the stadium to say ‘You know what? I’m going to put this beer down right now,’” O’Neal said.
Following the creation of LTUT by a team of UA students at the 2009 American Advertising Federation’s National Student Advertising Competition, the campaign launched on UA’s campus in fall of 2010. LessThanUThink has since gone from a statewide campaign to a nationwide campaign with its implementation in Orange County, Calif. at Santiago Canyon College.
The PSA, sponsored by Bacardi USA (a funder of The Century Council) will play in the stadium during the first quarter.
For many communication students at UA, tonight will end in at least one national victory as LTUT’s message of responsible drinking hits its target audience on a national platform.
LessThanUThink is a student-based anti-binge drinking campaign consisting of advertising and public relations students at The University of Alabama through the student-run firm, Capstone Agency. The campaign focuses on the national problem of college-age binge drinking and reaches out to students through humorous messages that emphasize the negative social consequences of binge drinking. Funded by The Century Council, the campaign was launched in 2010 on The University of Alabama campus.
Jeff Barrett is a recognized leader in public relations, experiential marketing and social media. Co-Founder of Status Creative, 2011 PRNewswire Award Winner for “Best Use of Video In Social Media” and record holder for Most Strikeouts in Tee-Ball.
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