The use of clever advertising to highlight public health issues and even change our behavior can be extremely effective. An example is the Montana Meth Project, and Arizona’s anti-tobacco campaign from the 1990s was another that had a huge impact.
Although there was a push in 2020 to have Arizona’s ad agencies create campaigns that could be similarly effective in the fight against COVID-19, nothing has grabbed hold and changed hearts and minds in quite the same way.
Tim Riester, founder and CEO of the full-service ad agency Riester, was behind the successful anti-tobacco spots from the 1990s. The Show spoke with him to learn about that campaign — and COVID-19.
