The media campaign consists of a series of public service announcements (PSAs) created by the Ad Council. The PSAs were created around the ‘Four Steps’ of the campaign. The first year of the campaign focused on Step 1: Be a pain – In a good way (see ‘Airplane’ PSA below). Year two was designed around Step 2: Push Yourself. This PSA features a variety of tough characters portraying the ‘tough’ classes students should take in high school to prepare for college (see ‘Prepare for College, Now’ PSA below). The PSAs were created for both television and radio. Airtime for the PSAs must be donated.

In addition to the PSAs, a series of viral videos were created taking a humorous approach to the ‘tough’ classes. The videos are designed to be shared through social media sites like MySpace and Facebook. The purpose of the videos is to create a peer-driven campaign where students encourage friends to pursue their college aspirations. Below you will find the viral videos for ‘Algebra II’ and ‘Foreign Languages.’

A series of outdoor (billboards and bus shelter posters) and print materials were created to supplement the campaign. Punching bags and boxing gloves were used to depict students encouraging themselves to take the ‘tough’ classes. An example of the billboard (left) and a print advertisement (right) are shown below.