Angela LoManto ENC 3331 November 22, 2013 Stop It, Dont Pop It Most high school and

college students have heard of the drug molly. It has become increasingly popular over the past few years and has made frequent appearances on the rave and dance scene. Many students take molly for its feelings of happiness, openness, and friendliness. But those few hours of happiness may not be worth the side effects. According to CNN, if you Google Molly, many articles say the drug is pure MDMA, the active ingredient in Ecstasy (Griffin). Users believe that because molly is pure that it is safe to takebut this is far from true. But today's Molly has become a toxic mix of unknown chemicals. Users of the drug are unaware of what theyre taking or how much of a dose. Dangerous psychological and physiological side effects also play a part in the usage of the drug. Celebrities have been giving Molly the wrong impression by endorsing it and making it sound fun. Using songs and interviews, celebrities have favored Molly making it sound exciting and cool to use. Many rappers as well as singers like Miley Cyrus have lyrics talking about partying and using molly. Even Madonna was criticized for asking a crowd how many people have seen Molly. Hollywood stars have failed to show the dangers in using this drug. Celebrities have a huge influence on the public and society, so making a Molly Awareness campaign would be beneficial in discouraging the use of Molly. Addressing the civic issue of Molly is necessary to warn students the dangers of the drug. Using celebrities in a Public Service Announcement campaign as a rhetorical approach will successfully create awareness and drive opinions in the right direction.

Making a campaign that is similar to the NOH8 Campaign for marriage equality, Peta against animal abuse, and the It Gets Better Project against bullying will help get this rhetorical approach to succeed. Building off an already successful approach that imitates the way these campaigns spread their message will only increase the chance of success for this new campaign. On November 4, 2008 California passed Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage. According to the website, the NOH8 Campaign is a photographic silent protest created by celebrity photographer Adam Bouska and partner Jeff Parshley in direct response to the passage of Proposition 8 (NOH8). Using photos of celebrities with duct tape over their mouths and NOH8 painted on one cheek, the NOH8 Campaign has become overwhelmingly successful and receives support from all over the world. The images are used on social media such as Facebook and Twitter to help spread the message. The photos are recognizable as well as the Hollywood faces representing them. People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is an animal rights organization working with public education, cruelty investigations, research, animal rescue, legislation, special events, celebrity involvement, and protest campaigns. PETA uses different public service announcements as well as celebrities to get their message across. Although this organization is a bit controversial, its rhetorical approach still succeeds. Many people know about PETA and many people support it. The It Gets Better Project is a video based worldwide movement against bullying. Its mission is to communicate to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth around the world that it gets better, and to create and inspire the changes needed to make it better for

them (It Gets Better Project). The project has received submissions from activists, organizations, politicians, as well as celebrities. It Gets Better has had huge media attention on television and social networks. For my plan of action, I want to create an awareness campaign similar to these three. Building off of campaigns that are already successful, will only help to establish success for a new civic issue. All have celebrity involvement and are successful in getting the word out. This campaign will persuade people to change their mind about molly. Instead of enjoying it, they will see the danger in taking a drug that may be laced with other substances. Users will be aware of the dangers and may stop to think twice about what they are putting into their body. There are a few ways I can attempt to reach celebrities with this campaign. First, using Twitter to get the word out and Tweeting to celebrities that would be willing to support the cause would be a great start. Trying to get #wecanstop to trend and reach a wide audience on Twitter will likely get celebrities attention. I also can reach out to professional photographers that have worked with celebrities and have them as contacts. Reaching out to other professionals who will have connections with celebrities will help create celebrity awareness. A campaign with celebrity involvement would fall under Aristotles ethos appeal. Ethos deals with persuading an audience based on the character of the speaker. It refers to the credibility of the speaker. We tend to believe people whom we respect. Celebrities have the power to persuade others and influence their thoughts. Big time Hollywood stars give off the impression of having authority and certainly have the ability to sway others

opinions. Well-respected celebrities that are good role models will have an even greater effect on public opinion. These role models are seen as trustworthy and likeable. Another rhetorical approach is Burkes identification. In identification, the speaker uses linguistic strategies to make the audience believe that his beliefs are similar to their beliefs. For example, politicians frequently use we or our during their speeches to relate to the audience. Using we or our is a good way to positively manipulate the audience into agreeing and connecting with them. Celebrities are role models to people and the audience is going to want to connect with them and be associated with their role models views. For my plan of action, I want to create a We Cant Stop campaign. To set forth my plan, I will start of with a website. In it, celebrities are going to take professional photographs that will be posted on the website, in magazine, billboards, and through any means that will aide the message in being received to the public in a mass audience. On the website will be links to social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and Instagram. All social media sites will include the pictures and further spread the message across to followers of all kinds. The website will sponsor celebrities that are seen as good role models, such as Michelle Obama or Kate Middleton. The photos will be black and white and the celebrity in the photo will hold his/her palm out in a stop position. On the hand the logo We Can Stop will be imprinted with the word stop in red to stand out against the picture.

Works Cited Griffin., Drew. "9 Things Everyone Should Know about the Drug Molly." CNN. Cable News Network, 22 Nov. 2013. Web. 22 Nov. 2013. <http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/22/health/9things-molly-drug/index.html>. "It Gets Better Project." It Gets Better. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2013. <http://www.itgetsbetter.org/>. "NOH8 Campaign." NOH8 Campaign. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2013. <http://www.noh8campaign.com/>. "PETA People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals." PETA. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2013. <http://www.peta.org/>.