LTUT Campaign Won $110,000 Grant to Go Statewide



TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – October 31, 2011 –The Century Council and the National Alcoholic Beverage Control Association (NABCA) have presented the University of Alabama’s LessThanUThink(LTUT) campaign a $ 110,000 grant to go statewide.

LTUT is an anti-binge drinking campaign run by undergraduate students at UA. Capstone Agency, The University of Alabama’s student-run public relations agency, will coordinate the campaign.

“We are finishing the research phase,” said Professor Teri K. Henley, the Capstone Agency adviser and instructor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations. “This semester we will be doing the website and planning; a mobile friendly site will be created. In January we will come back and start producing the materials and getting them ready to go.”

Henley said that the campaign would keep using the humorous approach to relate to behaviors during spring break. LTUT plans to partner with state Alcohol Beverage Control stores and Responsible Vendors to disseminate the message through posters, promotional tie-in and appropriate special events. LTUT will implement a spring break focused campaign on college campuses in the weeks prior to the holiday along with targeting spring break destinations.

The campaign will expand to several campuses in Alabama. One of the campaign objectives is to increase awareness of the undesired results, situations and consequences associated with the over consumption of alcohol among students at participating universities in Alabama by 20 percent April 2012.

“If the statewide initiative is successful, maybe we’ll go regional, or even national. That’s my sincerest hope for the campaign,” Henley said. “If you learn to drink responsibly early on, you are more likely to continue to drink responsibly. We want to do everything we can to help students make smart choices.”

The Century Council previously awarded the Advertising and Public Relations department at UA a $75,000 grant to locally implement the campaign in Fall 2010. The 2010 campaign raised awareness of the correct definition of anti-binge drinking at UA from 7% to 29.49%.

Approximately12-15 undergraduate students will work on LTUT as part of their campaign class in 2012 spring semester.

 

The LessThanUThink Campaign is one of the award-winning campaigns selected by The Century Council, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting responsible decision-making regarding alcoholic beverages. The Century Council has awarded The University of Alabama's College of Communications and Information Sciences two grants, a total of $185,000, to implement the campaign.