Unprecedented nationwide paid media campaign on impaired driving yields strong results: "You Drink & Drive. You Lose." campaign scores with target market.

Congress appropriated federal funds for the first time to conduct a paid advertising campaign targeting drinking and driving. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and 28 states (including 13 selected enforcement states) combined to support an unprecedented $25 million in paid advertising to promote the impaired driving ‘‘You Drink & Drive. You Lose.’’ national crackdown in the summer of 2003. NHTSA evaluated the effectiveness of these first-ever paid media efforts by examining whether the targeted drivers were aware of the media effort and whether they reported changing their behavior. The campaign began on June 20, 2003, continued through the July 4th holiday period, and ended on July 13, 2003. The campaign combined highly visible enforcement with paid and earned publicity about the national crackdown (Author/publisher)