Home Office crackdown on knives targets teens

by David Tiltman Marketing 23-May-06, 08:30

LONDON - The Home Office is to launch its first national anti-knife campaign for a decade to convince teenagers to give up their weapons amid growing concern over knife crime.

A hard-hitting poster drive will be unveiled tomorrow, less than a week after the death of London teenager Kiyan Prince, who was stabbed outside his school.

Posters supporting a national knife amnesty will appear in cities that have high knife-crime rates, using the strapline "Turn in your knife before it's turned on you".

The ads, created by RKCR/Y&R, will use a single, striking image. A Home Office spokesman said they were designed to "make people wince". The activity has a relatively small media budget of £170,000, but is likely to gain wide publicity due to Prince's death.

Home Office research found that young people feel safer when they are carrying a knife, when in fact they are more likely to get hurt.

The COI activity builds on work by individual police forces. The Metropolitan Police recently created a spoof computer game, distributed on DVD, in which a youth is stabbed during a fight.

The knife amnesty runs from 24 May to 30 June.

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