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Working
for a Good Grade and a Good Cause
Could
an ad campaign help San Francisco's homeless? Mayor Gavin Newsom
is giving it a try. His "ad agency" of choice: a group of
students at SF State.
The mayor's office served as the latest client for students enrolled
in a Marketing/Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts community
service-learning course. The assignment: Create public service announcements
aimed at recruiting volunteers for Project Homeless Connect, a one-stop
shop that delivers health and human services to homeless San Franciscans.
Students worked in three competing teams. Each team included marketing
majors, who conducted research and developed a creative brief; radio
and television majors, who shot videotape and recorded radio announcements;
and design and industry majors, who created
corresponding print ads.
At the end of the spring semester, students presented their ads to the
mayor and his staff at City Hall. Afterward, Newsom told the class,
"We're honored and thankful." He added that each team captured
the spirit of the program "in a very meaningful and touching way."
The winning team's ad, soon to air on radio and television, pointed
out what could be accomplished during a single day of volunteer work
for Project Homeless Connect: providing shelter and meals for 1,000
people. The message: "It's so easy to look the other way; I never
thought it was so easy to help."
In addition to completing the community service involved with the class
assignment, many students have reportedly become Project Homeless Connect
volunteers themselves.
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