Intoxicated Ink

Shards of a headlight. A disfigured fender. A deflated tire. A missing windshield.

An empty beer bottle.

The U.S. Department of Transportation recently announced the launch of a major $11 million advertising campaign on television, radio, and the internet to combat drunk driving, especially in men 21 to 34. No surprise for the media-savvy demographic that also happens to have the highest rate of fatal crashes while intoxicated.

But wait a second. Did you notice a lack of newspapers in the above paragraph?

The ads for the new campaign will only appear on television, radio and the internet - and that's the best marketing strategy I've heard in awhile. For a demographic that plays video games more than reads newspapers (double, in fact), and uses the internet more than six times as often as a newspaper, it's only logical.

Knock, knock, knock, newsrooms. Do you hear what I'm telling you? Put more effort on the web before someone else does, or it's you on the gurney.

With newspaper ad revenue trading ink for pixels in both classifieds and real ad pages, cutting corners won't solve your problems. A new business model needs to be implemented fast, because behind closed doors, no editor would ever admit that a smaller sized paper is "better." Only tighter articles.

The clock is ticking.