Before I go.....remembered I wanted to share this with y'all.  Cathy Liles
and I are working on a presentation about "Guilt vs. Informed Consent with
regard to infant feeding decision-making".  I obtained the following public
service announcement from the Department of Transportation and the Ad
Council, and we're going to use it as an example of deliberating invoking
guilt in parents to promote behaviors that are healthy for kids.  It plays
on the radio stations in my town, but this is part of a national campaign.
It's called "Larry's Lament" and it's sung to the tune of a country
western-style song, by Vince and Larry, the Crash-Test Dummies.

Announcer:  Here with a message for younger and more sensitive passengers,
Vince and Larry.

Vince: My precious pet said "Don't forget, Tommy's car seat when you go."
But I paid no mind and now I find, there's one thing I must know....

Larry: Do little angels have car seats in their chariots in heaven?  If my
angel used his here on earth, today he would be seven.  I didn't think to
buckle him in, just goin' into town

Chorus: He's on the highway up to heaven.

Larry:  Im on the road that goes straight down.

Chorus:  Forget the safety seat.

Larry:  You're on a one way street.

Vince:  That only goes straight down.

Announcer:  A message from the Department of Transportation and the Ad Council.


The not-so-subtle, designed-to-induce-guilt message is that IF you don't put
your child in a car seat, he WILL die (no discussion of higher risk, notice,
just HE WILL DIE) and YOU WILL GO TO HELL.

Interestingly, in the packet of materials they send out to radio and TV
stations (they send a whole group of ads, some of which are TV, but this one
is only radio), they include the following notice:

Dear PSA Director,
        The enclosed work for the safety belt education campaign includes
the spot "Larry's Lament", to illustrate to parents and drivers the
importance of using child passenger safety seats.  Through research, we
learned that the spot, "Larry's Lament", strongly communicates the message
that using child safety seats will protect your child.  Please listen to
this spot and consider your audience when placing it in rotation.

That you for your continued support of the safety belt education messages.
The Department of Transportation and the Advertising Council.


I wonder if their intent here is to reinforce that the guilt message works
very well, but at the same time maybe PSA Director's won't want to put it on
during the time when young children might be listening to the radio?  Hard
to say.  I've certainly heard it in the car between 7:30 and 8:15 am in the
morning, and again between 3:00 and 4:00 pm in the afternoons.

If you have comments or thoughts, please send to LactNet through this
afternoon, otherwise cc to my private e-mail address as I'll be going
no-mail on LactNet this afternoon.

Kathy Dettwyler