Pop Music and Sexual Responsibility: Reaching Young People in Latin America

Project Dates: 1985-1986

• Overview
• Lessons Learned

Overview

The purpose of this project was to increase awareness among young people in Latin America of the importance of sexual responsibility in their own personal development. This was one of the first projects to incorporate messages of sexual responsibility into a hit song. "Cuando Estemos Juntos" and "Detente," were recorded by two of the most popular singers in the region at the time, Tatiana and Johnny. The songs were launched on the television program, "Siempre en Domingo," to an audience of over 150 million people.

Twelve family planning associations in 11 countries participated in the project. In all a two-sided 45-rpm record, 2 music videos of the songs, and television and radio spots to promote song messages were produced. Television and radio spots were broadcast with a tag line from the local organizations. In this way, the mass media messages were linked directly to a location where youth could go for information, counseling or health services.

To determine whether the target audience had correctly interpreted the meaning of the songs, write-in contests were sponsored by radio stations and music magazines. Thousands of teens who wrote to explain what the songs meant to them received copies of the record and a poster which included the names and addresses of the local associations collaborating with the project.

JHU/PCS collaborated with Fuentes y Fomento Intercontinentales of Mexico in the development and implementation of the campaign, which begin in June of 1985 and was completed in December of 1986.

Lessons Learned

Reaching teens with social messages is possible if the media and messages are chosen with youth's concerns, habits and preferences in mind. Rather than preaching to young people, the songs used the Enter-Educate approach to inform in an appealing, hip way. An evaluation measuring recall and understanding of the songs showed that teens did internalize the message. Two years after the launch, 98% of teens interviewed in Mexico remembered the songs, and 80% correctly described the message.

This project also highlights the importance of secondary audiences. The collaboration of media "gatekeepers" was essential to getting the message out. It was essential that radio and television station owners and managers found the messages of the songs acceptable, and that the quality of the recordings was as good as those of the strictly commercial products usually broadcast.