Dover’s Youth to Youth group gets award for anti-smoking radio spots
by Dover Police Charities
By Andrea Bulfinch • abulfinch@fosters.com
Dover’s Youth to Youth group gets award for anti-smoking radio spots
DOVER — Members of Dover’s Youth to Youth celebrated an award received recently for a series of radio ads created by the drug prevention group to encourage smokers to end their “bad relationship with tobacco.”
“It’s kind of like the Emmys for drug prevention,” parent volunteer Stephanie Retrosi said of the award presented to Y2Y at the annual “Granite Mikes” ceremony after being selected by the New Hampshire Association of Broadcasters to receive the Media Campaign of the Year Award.
Media partner radio station WOKQ, which allowed Y2Y to use its studio to record the public service announcements, nominated the student group for the efforts.
“It’s really exciting,” Kaitlyn Hutchins, 17, said.
She said not only does it feel good to get the message to stop tobacco use out to the public, but it’s also fun when people recognize her voice on the air.
In 2002, Y2Y also received the Public Service Campaign of the Year award; the Best Public Service Announcement of the Year in 1996, 1999, and 2000; and the group also won the NHAB Merit award in 2009.
For this series of ending a bad relationship with tobacco, Y2Y Coordinator Dana Mitchell said the idea of a humorous sense of “divided attention” with the ads making listeners wonder if it’s a relationship being discussed or something else, came from the television sitcom Friends.
“We used a lot of break up language,” he said of the scripts which were created by students.
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Mitchell also said he’s even been contacted by prevention groups in other states, such as Maine, and has been asked to send copies of the witty mp3 files for their own use.
“What we had used to seem cool, but I’ve changed. I feel like you’re smothering me, I can’t breathe!” one script reads.
Another suggests that the character speaking to their “partner” has become too dependent and though has broken things off in the past and come crawling back, has sought help to end things once and for all.
The PSAs can be heard by clicking the links below.