Local PSA Nominated for Award

A PSA produced by the Mystic Valley Area NAACP and McGoldrick Marketing has been selected as a finalist for the prestigious Rosoff Award.

This eye-opening video has had people talking since it appeared online. First reported in the Medford Transcript, “Statistic” has been the subject of thought-provoking articles in The Boston Globe and CNN.com among others. National Public Radio’s Robin Young (WBUR) conducted an on-air interview with Neil Osborne (NAACP Mystic Valley Area branch president), Jack McGoldrick (president of McGoldrick Marketing) and Medford High School students Max Tilus and Tyler Holness (two of the students who starred in the video).

Now “Statistic” has been selected as a finalist for the prestigious Rosoff Awards in the “Marketing to Promote Inclusion” category. The award (presented by The Ad Club – the trade association for the New England marketing & communications industry) recognizes brands and their marketing partners who have created campaigns promoting acceptance and inclusion, with the purpose of changing perceptions or behavior, and ultimately creating a conversation around topics of diversity and inclusion. The PSA, along with all the stories it has generated in the local and national press, has certainly been part of an important nationwide conversation regarding race and acceptance.

The black & white 30-second video begins with three African-American young men looking directly at the camera while one says, “I am a statistic.” He continues with, “I am the one out of three who will go to college.” It continues with progressively larger groups of young African-American men stating other positive statistics about themselves.

The goal was to increase self-confidence in young African-American men while dispelling some preconceived opinions that may have existed in the general public. All of the statistics quoted are factual and have been obtained from sources such as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Education, among others.

The commercial was produced by Jack McGoldrick, President and Creative Director of McGoldrick Marketing. “You can’t argue with cold hard facts, and that’s what this commercial is about… using the truth as evidence that young black men are important, “ said McGoldrick. The idea initially came while McGoldrick was working in New York City on a campaign for the Partnership for a Drugfree America with ad industry powerhouse Valerie Graves, who was a co-writer. But the number was reversed… 1 out of 4 DOES use drugs. “We thought it would be more powerful to present the message in a positive light… 3 out of 4 DON’T do drugs. Then we thought, ‘What other positive numbers are there that people aren’t aware of?’ So I did some research I found all these other positive statistics about young African American men. It’s a message that needs to be heard.”

And it’s a message that will continue to be heard. Mr. Osborne has received requests from as far away as San Francisco and Alaska to run the PSA regionally, and the video may soon receive distribution on an even wider scale.

Team Medford, an initiative of the Health Department with offices at Medford City Hall, also played a big role. Penny Funiaole helped write the end line, and Jemima Valdouin provided research assistance and organizational help during and after the shoot.

Medford High School Assistant Principle Nick Tucci was instrumental in recruiting students to act in the video, and MHS student Joe Farah composed the music.

“Statistic” can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgVNsCLd8iY.

– Submitted by Neil Osborne, Mystic Valley NAACP president