I've been hearing a radio advertisement for the American Stroke Association for some time now and it has bothered me since the first time I heard it.
A transcript of the ad follows:
{Struggling voice}: The First Amendment reads, “the people shall not be deprived or abridged of their right to speak”
Narrator #1: The odds are, the person you just heard is an African-American.
Narrator #2: Because African-Americans are twice as likely to suffer a stroke as white Americans.
Narrator #1: That’s twice as likely a stroke can rob you of your freedom to speak your mind.
Narrator #2: The freedom to shout from mountain tops.
Narrator #1: The freedom to tell your mother you love her.
Narrator #2: And it’s twice as likely a stroke could take your life.
Narrator #1: Therefore it’s twice as crucial for us to do something about preventing a stroke.
{Same struggling voice}: Learn how you can help beat the odds.
Narrator #1: Start by calling 1-888-4-stroke or go online to strokeassociation.org.
Narrator #2: Join the power to end stroke.
Narrator #3: A public service message brought to you by the American Stroke Association and the Ad Council.
Here’s what bothers me about the ad.
Strokes often rob people of their ability to speak, not their freedom of speech. To imply that the loss of the ability to speak due to stroke is somehow related to the loss of the American freedom of speech by referencing the U.S. Constitution is, well, misguided.
As marketing communication goes, the American Stroke Association and the Ad Council could have taken a better approach with an issue directed at a minority population rather than toying with the notion that a constitutional freedom is somehow being taken away.
I appreciate the message that those at higher risk for strokes should know they are at higher risk and inform themselves on the topic. I also applaud the strategy of informing all of us about the risks. I just wish they would have thought a little more about how they conveyed that message.
More information…
Amendment I to the U.S. Constitution
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
About the risk of strokes.
4 comments:
As an African American, I think the marketing communication has more to do with the target market that the American Stroke Association is trying to reach. While the ad does not spell this out, African Americans that are approximately 35-55 years old lived in a trying time in America, the Civil Rights era. For them, the freedom of speech being taken away was a very real thing. While I would agree that the communication could have been more clearly spelled out. I think they were on the right track in trying to attract a target market...
James,
Thanks for your comment.
You are right. I think they found a way to speak to the right market. I understand why they did it. I'm just not sure they choose the most uplifting and compelling message or used the best communications tactic. I'm not even convinced they unwittingly went about it in an inaccurate/untruthful manner.
Let me ask you this. How does it make you feel and what do you think about tactics that purposefully try to evoke emotions about injustistices of the past in order to try to motivate you for some other, unrelated reason? Doesn't something just seem a little bit wrong about that?
Thanks again for reading and for the post. Did you find this via the web or are you subscribed via RSS?
Dave,
I understand what you mean! The marketing communications are absolutely horrible. They are trying to hit home with their message, and possibly it could evoke some type of feeling, but the communication misses the mark in my opinion.
I have been following your blog for quite a while...I subscribe via RSS.
I "try" to run my own quasi-marketing, personal blog as well....please leave remarks to tell me what you think!
Thanks for being a loyal reader, James. Looks like we have similar interests.
Keep up the great work, God bless our troops and THANK YOU! We owe you a debt we can never repay.
Let's try to get you some traffic!
http://5eay.blogspot.com/
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