Here’s a nice use of the Words That Work, even if the context is a different kind of liquid than what we usually focus on here. The federal government and a partnership of “adult beverage” industry associations are running a social marketing/behavior change campaigns aimed at raising awareness about teen alcohol abuse. They’ve set up a website at www.dontserveteens.gov and are promoting it with billboards, newspaper psas (pictured above), and other advertisements.

Let’s evaluate the campaign against the Water Words That Work method and see how it fares:

• Begin with Behavior. Check. The goal is to persuade adults to not buy booze for teens.
• Foolproof Photos. Check. A family discussion. You can see the mom’s face.
• Swap the Shoptalk. Check. No jargon from the substance-abuse profession anywhere
• Use Words That Work. Check. The key message points use three — “unsafe,” “illegal,” “irresponsible.” The photo caption uses another, “do you part.”

Nice work!