above the influence and ordinary

So.

The majority of the time I find advertising “doing the right thing” messages to teens<young adults>  silly and a waste of money.

I would even add in the effort invested in the websites and such as a waste.

If there was ever a group that should simply be encouraged to create a curated type ‘hub’ (it could be web driven, advertising driven, club/group driven, grassroots driven, whatever driven <some do this>) this is it.

Yes.

Some initiatives do a nice job of encouraging teens to become involved but typically it is built around “the higher message” (“doing this is bad and will be bad for you”).

I believe efforts would be better invested to simply empower the group you want to be empowered to build it on their own and permit them to find the ‘voice’ that they want to speak in.

Now.

This doesn’t mean I disagree with the intent behind these initiatives (anti smoking, anti drug, anti -any vice) it’s just that I believe kids know the difference between right & wrong.

Maybe we should just let them <empower them> tell us its wrong … but also let them tell us why they do wrong things.

Because, frankly, we all do wrong things knowingly and it is pretty hypocritical for us to assume all young adults won’t do the wrong things sometimes (and naïve of us if we believe they don’t know it is wrong while they are doing it).

For tween/teens.

It sometimes really comes down to “can I do the right thing <what I know is right> and still feel like I fit in <and look cool … or whatever the right word is for his generation>.”

Therefore any initiative which showcases “it is acceptable to do this” in a way that is relevant to the generation (without being preachy) I think is getting closer to being successful. And has a chance of maybe pointing the way for someone.

In addition.

I do believe it is a worthwhile investment to show young adults “the prize.”

What do I mean?

Well.

Among all the silly things I have seen Above the Influence do … I saw one commercial that I believe is right.

It’s called Ordinary Day.

Ordinary Day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHGK3J_u5ts

I think the brilliance in it resides within the ordinariness of it.

That the best things in life are often the overlooked ordinary things.

Now that, my friends, is a great message (no matter how old you are).

But I also believe it is a spectacular message to young adults who are often overwhelmed with expectations of the spectacular and grandiose.

I wish more people trying to communicate important things to young adults would do it his way.

Tell them the “spectacular” is slightly overrated and that the ordinary is often overlooked in its extraordinaire.

Anyway.

Here is some stuff about above the Influence. As noted earlier I like the intent.

It’s a state of mind. It’s about being yourself and not letting negative influence get to you. Pressure to drink, do drugs or do anything that goes against who you are in order to fit in – that’s negative influence.

And if you’re one of the teens who want to stay above it, you’ve come to the right spot.