The Partnership for a Drug-Free America, now renamed as the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, was responsible for the 1987 ad and has made a reboot
This is your brain, a man says, holding an egg. Those who saw the public service announcement firsthand in the 1980s likely remember the rest. This is drugs. He points to a frying pan and cracks the egg inside. This is your brain on drugs.
The classic advertisement from 1987 has gotten a facelift for the modern day. The infamous egg remains, but the emphasis has changed.
The Partnership for a Drug-Free America, now renamed as the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, was responsible for both the original ad and reboot.
Got any questions? was the end to the first ad, said with a tone of finality. In the new version, the question is meant to invite response. Um yeah. I have questions, a boy in the new commercial responds. He and other kids ask about prescription drugs, alcohol and heroin.
The commercial makes clear that its directed at parents rather than kids. Mom, Dad, did you ever try drugs? is now the emphasis of the ad. The voice of actor Allison Janney, of The West Wing fame, directs parents to ready themselves for questions from their kids by going onto the Partnership for Drug-Free Kidss website.
Because of parenting styles today, parents are engaged with their kids in a different way, Kristi Rowe, chief marketing officer at the Partnership, told the New York Times. Theyre really stumped by the questions. They dont know how to answer them.
Previous versions of the Fried Egg PSA, as the new version is called, seemed to be directed at kids. The original featured a man directly addressing viewers. In a version from the 1990s, actor Rachael Leigh Cook is era-appropriate grungy and cool while smashing the egg and an entire kitchen with the frying pan. She was a teen speaking frankly to other teens, a contrast to Janney speaking to other adults. As Cook destroys plates, a sink, a blender and a clock, she yells that, This is what your family goes through and your friends. Its intentionally abrasive whereas the ads new iteration is meant to foster conversation.
The new TV and radio advertisements were created by Campbell Ewald, an advertising agency, along with a print ad and online banner ads created by BFG Communications, according to a release.
The ad campaign airs on CBS this week and also aired the original Fried Egg PSA. The ad will be distributed to hundreds of other television stations across the country.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/aug/09/drugs-psa-fried-egg-commercial-update
