Republican politicians are demanding cuts in the government's anti-drugs messages so the cash can be diverted to repair Hurricane Katrina damage.
Proclaims the Republican Study Committee: "There is no solid evidence that media campaigns are effective in either preventing or reducing the use of illegal drugs." It urges the Bush administration to save $1.3 billion (€1.07bn; £730m) over ten years by ditching the program.
However, the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the object of fraudulent overbilling by ad agency execs [WAMN: 15-July-05], strongly believes the current $120 million advertising budget is money well spent.
Says ONDCP spokesman Tom Riley: "Dollars invested in prevention today save millions of dollars and thousands of lives tomorrow."
A new campaign, created by Foote Cone & Belding in New York is to be launched this fall.
Data sourced from AdWeek (USA); additional content by WARC staff
