Youth Voices and Action Ad Council Campaign

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In mid-1997, and running through 1998, a national 4-H media campaign was conducted, called "Youth Voices and Action." The campaign was all about asking kids to volunteer in their communities; and, having fun at the same time. It was created by "design teams" of 4-H members, volunteers, media people and staff at the county, state and national levels, including National 4-H Council, The Ad Council and Bates USA (advertising agency).

The "Youth Voices and Action" national public service advertising campaign '4-H Are You Into It?' addressed identified problems of today's youth. The campaign encourages youth to become involved in issues in their community and to volunteer. Kids who see the PSA's call a toll-free number and get a free brochure containing community service ideas. Then local 4-H'ers call them back to get them involved in their county. The campaign was launched during National 4-H Week in 1997.

The 1998 National 4-H Council Annual Report states that after just eight months, the '4-H Are You Into It?' campaign garnered $36.2 million worth of media placements – $9 million more than the typical Ad Council campaign earns in an entire year. All this exposure generated more than 4,000 calls to 4-H's toll-free number and over four million hits to the 'Are You Into It?' website.

The 1999 Annual Report announced that '4-H Are You Into It?' campaign ranked in the top five of all Ad Council campaigns in 1998, earning $64.1 million in estimated donated media placement. More than 11,744 calls were received at the toll-free number and 5,621,615 individuals sought information from the website.