Ad Drive Targets Terror Threat

Stepping up efforts to prepare the nation for possible terrorism, the federal government unveiled an advertising campaign Wednesday that urges people to gather emergency supplies, keep gasoline tanks at least half full and develop a plan for contacting family members in case of attack.

The public relations effort, called the Ready Campaign, has been in the works for nearly a year. But it came as many Americans were in a state of heightened anxiety from the government’s announcement nearly two weeks ago that the nation was at “high risk” for a terrorist attack.

Stores from Washington, D.C., to New York reported runs on duct tape, bottled water and other items last week after the Homeland Security Department divulged a list of emergency supplies that it said should be in every home.

Announcing the campaign, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Americans could calm their jitters by following the steps recommended in the advertisements.

“We can be afraid, or we can be ready,” Ridge said in a speech in Cincinnati. “And today, America’s families declare: We will not be afraid and we will be ready.”

Officials said the campaign also aimed to make security a top concern beyond the Washington area and New York, the targets of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.

“The next attack could happen to any community at any time,” Ridge said. “The random, unpredictable nature of terrorism itself requires hopefully everyone to take our recommendations to be prepared, regardless of where they live.”

He said Americans could undermine terrorism by preparing for it, depriving the nation’s enemies of their ability to spread fear. “A nation of citizens who refuse to panic -- well, that’s a terrorist’s greatest fear,” he said.

The advertising campaign recommends that families assemble an emergency supply kit, including food and water for three days, flashlights, a battery-powered radio, medicines and blankets.

It says residents should select a “safe room” and keep duct tape and plastic sheeting on hand to seal cracks and vents against germs or toxins. But Ridge urged that people not seal any rooms without a signal from authorities.

“Experts tell us that a safe room inside your house or inside your apartment can help protect you from airborne contaminants for several hours,” Ridge said, “and that could be just enough time for that chemical agent to be blown away.”

The campaign also recommends that family members know how to reach each other and where to meet in an emergency. It says people should not let their gasoline tanks get below half full, in case evacuation is necessary.

The advertisements ask people to learn more about how to respond to the different types of potential attacks, including biological, chemical and radioactive contaminants.

Details are laid out in a brochure that will be available at post offices, through the www.ready.gov Web site and at (800) BE-READY.

The public relations effort includes television, radio and print advertisements as well as billboards and the Web site. The information was screened by experts selected by the New York-based Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, which helped develop and fund the ads, as well as by the Homeland Security Department.

Because focus groups said that using celebrities to deliver the information was inappropriate, the ads feature Ridge, New York City firefighters and other emergency personnel, who were found to have more authority, said Ken Hines of the Martin Agency, the Richmond, Va., firm that created the ads as a public service.

The effort has relied on a $1.5-million donation from the Sloan Foundation and contributions from ad agencies and media outlets.

Homeland Security officials worked on the campaign with the foundation and the Advertising Council, the industry nonprofit group responsible for such public service icons as Smokey Bear, McGruff the Crime Dog and the crash test dummies that urge Americans to buckle up when driving.

Ralph Gomory, president of the Sloan Foundation, said the philanthropic organization began talking with Homeland Security officials in May about the need for a campaign to tell people about ways to prepare for terrorism.

“Nothing was going to work unless there was demand from the population to do it,” Gomory said. “You could put up on a Web site the sort of filter to use in your building, and nothing would happen. So we agreed that we had to have outreach.”

The Ad Council asked the Martin Agency to create the ads. The council will now seek free air time and print space from media outlets. It is aiming for $40 million to $50 million in donated advertising time and space this year, said Paula Veale, executive vice president for communications at the ad council.

Members of the Outdoor Advertising Assn. of America, which represents owners of billboards and other outdoor media, have committed to donating space worth at least $17.7 million, the Homeland Security Department said.

Information is also expected to appear in 550 million Yellow Pages directories in the next year.

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Readiness at home

The Department of Homeland Security launched its Ready Campaign, which encourages Americans to keep an emergency supply kit with the following items:

* Three days’ worth of nonperishable food and water

* Flashlights

* Battery-powered radio

* Extra batteries

* Blanket

* First-aid kit

* Medicine

* Manual can opener

* Duct tape and plastic sheeting (to seal a room for several hours during a chemical or biological attack)

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Source: Associated Press