Mother's 'Frank' campaign doubles calls to drug helpline

by Claire Billings,, Brand Republic 09-Sep-03, 08:30

LONDON - The number of phone calls to the government's drug advice line almost doubled in the week after the launch of its £3m 'Talk to Frank' campaign.

The campaign was developed by advertising agency Mother. It broke in May and aims to cut the use of Class A drugs among teenagers.

The ads target teenagers and their parents and carers, and calls to an advice line rose to around 1,400 following the launch of the much-talked-about campaign, which took a ground-breaking approach for the government.

In one humorous spot, a boy calls the police on his mother when she tries to talk to him about drugs. In another, a street full of people start hugging each other as if they had taken Ecstacy. The campaign is supported by a website, Talk to Frank, which has also been developed to offer advice and information about drug abuse.

In the week before the launch of the campaign, the service -- previously known as the National Drugs Helpline and now known as Frank -- received 5,689 calls, an average of 813 a day.

During the week after the ads broke, the service took 9,948 calls, an average of 1,421 a day. In May and June, 39,733 calls were made to Frank, an average of 1,282 a day.

The 'Talk to Frank' website also proved a popular source of information. In the month after launch, between May 23 and September 4, the site received 600,987 visits, an average of more than 5,778 a day.

As many as one in three people in the UK have taken drugs, according to government statistics.

If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the Forum here.