MORNINGSIDE AVENUES
Ad campaign is a potential life saver 4
A class project to create an advertising campaign against drunk driving has turned into a real effort to save lives. The campaign recently got attention at the state level, receiving funding to expand its reach. Back in the spring of 2010, Dr. Pam Mickelson challenged her advertising class to develop a marketing campaign to support a good cause. The students settled on the topic of drinking and driving, and then worked in small groups to explore different approaches. In the end, they brought together their best ideas to create “Sober Driving Saves: Live to Have Fun Again.” The campaign features vanity license plates with messages like “SBRDRVR,” “KEYZPLZ” and “DUIKILS” that were created by Cara Anderson 2011 in a graphic design course the previous semester taught by John Kolbo 1977. It also shares facts about drunk-driving deaths, the amount of alcohol in a party cup and the cost of an OWI. It reaches people through everything from posters and table tents to key chains, air fresheners and ice scrapers. Throughout the class, students worked with professionals who deal with substance abuse issues on campus and in the community. These professionals were so impressed by the final product that they provided funding to help the students implement the campaign at Morningside College and at local bars. They also helped the students get their message up on three billboards in Sioux City. Last fall Anderson went with Mickelson to Des Moines to present the campaign to the Iowa Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau (GTSB). They were awarded $8,000 to take the campaign to 10 colleges and universities around the state, and they were invited to present at the annual traffic safety conference in April. Police officers supporting the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls and St. Ambrose University in Davenport were among the first to seek campaign materials. Along with Anderson, other alumni and students continuing to help with this project are Katie Brannen 2011, Heidi Lieber 2011, Kelsey Martin and Becca Hansen. “This program has the potential to reach thousands of college students throughout Iowa delivering a very serious and life-saving message,” said Mick Mulhern, program administrator/youth coordinator for the GTSB.
By the numbers
grant awarded to Morningside College by the U.S. Department of Education for “Project Proficient,” a program designed to help teachers improve instruction for preschool through 12thgrade students with limited language proficiency in English.
$1.7million
