March Of Dimes TV Ad Kicks Off New Education Campaign

The March of Dimes will launch a new advertising campaign with 15- and 30-second television spots expected to break early next year. The ads are part of a three-year, $10 mil. education campaign announced in August to reduce serious birth defects caused by insufficient folic acid intake by mothers ("The Tan Sheet" Aug. 31, p. 8).

The White Plains, N.Y.-based organization is focusing the project on mass media, health professional education and community action efforts.

The new public service announcements, to air on network, cable and local television, feature a baby in a diaper crawling across a busy street with cars and trucks driving through, missing the child by inches.

The voiceover in the ad says, "If you think this baby is in danger, it's nothing compared to what can happen as early as the third week of pregnancy, when birth defects of the brain and spinal cord can occur."

"If you're a woman of childbearing age," the ad continues, "take a multivitamin with folic acid every day as part of a healthy diet. Start now, pregnant or not, and help save a baby."

Print ads will follow the TV spots and are expected to be in publications by February. The ads portray the baby in the street and echo the statements from the commercials, but also include the declaration, "Don't let it happen." The ad agency is The Lord Group, New York City.

The March of Dimes also is creating a new professional campaign requesting that health care professionals increase patient education efforts. The organization recently sent close to 200,000 mailings to doctors urging them to talk to their patients about folic acid, along with handouts health care professionals can use as aids in the education process.

Additional materials are being developed. The March of Dimes expects new professional literature including "mailings, advertising, journal articles, presentations at medical conferences and specific materials" to be ready by the first quarter.

The new campaign, targeting more than 50 mil. women of childbearing age in the U.S., will include a focus on educational projects within local communities.

The March of Dimes' national prevention campaign will be introduced Jan. 28-29 at an Arlington, Va. meeting sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention and the National Council on Folic Acid.

The meeting, entitled "Preventing Neural Tube Birth Defects with Folic Acid: Working Together for Healthier Babies," will feature as invited guests First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and HHS Secretary Donna Shalala.

Another aspect of the March of Dimes' national campaign is the "Third National Survey of Women's Behavior and Knowledge Relative to Consumption of Folic Acid and Other Vitamins and Pre-pregnancy Care."

The survey, conducted between July and August, interviewed 2,115 women 18-45 to measure their awareness of folic acid and determine the number of women who consume the recommended 400 mcg of the B vitamin folic acid per day.

Compared to two previous surveys taken in 1995 and 1997, "the proportion of women who report taking a vitamin containing folic acid on a daily basis has changed only minimally," the survey finds. The percent of women who are not pregnant and take a multivitamin increased from 25% in 1995 to 29%, according to the most recent results.

Those women most likely to take vitamins daily are over the age of 35. They also are likely to be educated - 52% were college graduates.

Awareness of folic acid and its benefits has increased steadily since 1995, up 16% to 68% in 1998, while 30% of all women surveyed were aware that their multivitamin contains the recommended amount of the nutrient. Women less likely to be aware of the vitamin are between 18 and 24, have not attended college and are non-white or Hispanic.

When asked about sources of information on folic acid, the most recognized was print media (31%), followed by radio and television (23%) and trailed by health care providers at 19%.