Edward R. Murrow High School student Esther Mironer had never heard of digital or text-messaging abuse when she was given an assignment to create a public awareness campaign about it. Her campaign was so effective, she realized she was a victim herself.
“I realized that I know somebody who does this,” she said. “I told him to stop.”
Mironer was one of hundreds of students who participated in the sixth annual Advertising Futures competition, which pairs teams of students with professionals in the advertising industry to create a public service campaign. This year, students had to create an ad to prevent cyber bullying or digital abuse. Mironer’s team from Murrow placed third with an ad that helps students determine whether they’re in a healthy or unhealthy relationship.
“The students were very businesslike in their approach,” said Jelani Curtis, an art director at ad agency TBWA/Chiat/Day who worked with the Murrow team. “They were well prepared, had great research. They kept us on our toes!”
“My students took the assignment very seriously,” said Murrow teacher Lisa Costantino, pictured with her students. “Win or lose, they always do top quality work and are very passionate about their ideas. It was great to see the ad agency respect their ideas as they guided them through the process.”
The teams presented their ideas to a panel of judges during Advertising Week, the largest and most prestigious annual gathering of advertising professionals in North America.
The students on the Murrow team and other Advertising Futures teams all participate in Virtual Enterprise, a Career and Technical Education program in which students create a virtual business, complete with virtual overhead, profits, and payroll. They also learn how to market and advertise their products.
“It was a great experience – I haven’t ever done anything like it,” said Lauren Riley, another member of the Murrow team.
This year’s winning campaign came from Business, Computer Applications, and Entrepreneurship High School in Queens. The top three ads ran in the New York Times and the Murrow team was featured on WABC News.