Few Watch Drug PSAs On YouTube [View All]

[Robbien]

(AP) If a PSA drops in cyberspace, does anyone hear it?

As various interests have increasingly converged on YouTube in hopes of some free, viral marketing, it came as little surprise when the White House announced earlier this week that it, too, wanted a piece of lonelygirl's spotlight.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy posted a dozen videos at YouTube.com/ONDCP, mostly of public-service commercials on the dangers of drug use from the "above the influence" campaign, as seen on TV.

As of Wednesday, the ONDCP channel had received a scant 53 subscribers and a total of 14,463 views, a relatively low total. How the youthful, rebellious Web is responding to the ONDCP's efforts is perhaps hinted at by the mirror site, ondcp.com, which recasts the acronym as "oppressive network drug content propaganda."

It's true, though, that any YouTube viewings are basically gravy to the ONDCP; it costs nothing to post the clips. Still, the campaign's numbers pale in comparison to, for example, the hundreds of thousands that have watched various videos on how to grow marijuana.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/09/21/tech/main2031780.shtml