Underage drinking

So I've been involved in this initiative called Ad Futures, where we work with a bunch of inner city kids toward producing an ad that tackles a particular social problem. Every agency that participates is assigned a specific school, an assignment is given and a month later, the resulting advertisement is evaluated and a winning agency/ school is announced. This year's assignment was underage drinking and our school was the Fordham Leadership Academy in the Bronx.

The kids, who volunteer for this initiative out of an interest in advertising and a desire to make a difference, were three girls and a boy: Heather, Deeana, Sati and Oliver. Our team consisted of Bryan, Rowena, Megan, Jennifer (Account team), myself, Matt Tarulli, Jazmin Correa, Mary Potts and Robert Cogliati (Creative team). Over the past month, we've been meeting with them twice a week in a bid to come up with the best possible ad, amidst busy schedules (the kids all have jobs, in addition to school) and clashing egos (one of our team members has what may euphemistically be referred to as a real attitude problem).

In the end, the ad was produced, the kids were coached to present it to the judges and the event was held last Friday. All in all, around 22 schools competed, backed by 22 agencies, and it really is kind of a big deal.

Which makes the fact that we won all that more amazing! I wasn't able to attend, but I was reliably informed that the kids were spectacular, selling their work with passion and verve and an enthusiasm that we jaded old pros can only ruefully admire. Afterwards, I stopped by to see them and you couldn't believe how happy they were. They were interviewed by channels 5 and 13 and, as part of the terms of the competition, their ad will appear in the New York Times. I'll keep you posted about when.

It really warms the cockles of the heart to be part of such a positive experience. The fact that we won as well, really makes me very proud. It's like a success for me, only it means more because I was able to be part of an effort to help someone else.

Alright, enough joy and sunshine.