My Advocacy Campaign Poster:

Cover letter:
It is not a hidden secret that vaping has become a commonplace to teenagers. As a
teenager I have seen the vaping movement firsthand. I have even participated in it.
Fortunately I stopped, but I never really was addicted. I know many of my peers whom
are though. You see vaping almost everywhere in high school and college campuses. My
inspiration for this topic aside from how relevant it is was also how portable vaping is. I
remember the day I decided to do this campaign I was in class when a student near me
pulled out their juul and casually vaped. I’ve only seen that in college. In high school, I
guess vaping was more secretive. However, in college it is so casual and frequent among
students.

After doing some further research on the effects of vaping, I went back to the
drawing board. The most alarming statistic I found was that, “People who use e-cigarettes
have a 71 percent increased risk of stroke and 40 percent higher risk of heart disease, as compared
to nonusers.” I then had to find a way to spread that message here in State College. My
immediate thought was to create posters, and plaster them around local vaping shops. However, I
then realized that would be unfair to them, and hurt their business. Instead, I decided to post my
posters in the more populous heavy buildings on campus.

When thinking of locations, I wanted a poster per the south, pollock, east, north,
and west parts of campus. However, east and south were hard to find buildings like that
so they got omitted. I thought of posting in the commons, but I didn’t think people would
care to view it. At least in the buildings people are waiting for classes, and could see the
poster. Therefore, I had to make a poster that was very noticeable to the eye. I think I
accomplished that because the background is an individual handing you a juul. I then
placed the statistic in huge text to serve as the central message. Finally, I included a QR
code which linked to a truth initiative article which outlines steps on how to quit.

After all this, I thought there was still more I could do. Stemming earlier from my
vape store idea, I had a new idea. I went to three local vape shops, and showed them the
poster. I asked them a simple question, “Did you know this?” Two of the three employees
I talked two said they vaped regularly. All three of the employees did not know that
statistic though. I made sure my tone was not rude, and they were all fun conversations to
have. I let all three stores keep copies of the posters too. One employee even said they
would show customers the poster before they made a purchase.

Overall I think I chose a good medium to express this advocacy campaign. I made
an interactive poster, and placed it where many would see. The scariest thing about the
vaping epidemic is the potential for another age group to become hooked. That age
group, middle schoolers. My kid brother is currently in the eighth grade. Therefore I
asked him if students at his school do in fact vape. His response was a resounding
confirmation that students vape as early as age 11. I did more research, and it’s completely
true. I hope by leaving those final words of educate and advocate really inspires people to
do so.
Documentation:

@ Willard Building / My West part of campus location.

@ The Forum Building / My North part of campus location
@ Huck Life Sciences Building / My Pollock part of campus location
Sources:
Dennis Thompson, "Vaping Tied to Rise in Stroke, Heart Attack Risk,"
consumer.healthday.com, Jan. 30, 2019