Universal Pictures Prostitutes "TRAFFIC" PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE DrugSense FOCUS Alert #216 Wednesday, July 25, 2001 When the movie 'Traffic' was released, the media and the drug policy reform community both credited it with opening the debate on drug policy. See http://www.mapinc.org/traffic.htm That the Drug Czar, played by Michael Douglas, would walk away from the job after seeing the drug war as a war on Americans sent a strong signal. Many drug policy organizations helped promote 'Traffic,' running banner ads and contests, or distributing leaflets outside theaters.(br)(br) Last week Universal Pictures sent a message to reform organizations asking them to promote with banner ads the Pay Per View release of the film. The message said, in part: "I just finished checking out your drug policy related website. I've been looking for sites and newsgroups that in some way connect with the Universal Pictures film TRAFFIC, (which features Benicio Del Toro, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Dennis Quaid, Michael Douglas, and Don Cheadle)" "Obviously this film raised some interesting issues dealing with current drug policy... though not taking any sides in the debate, it helped open up new dialog about the debate. "As for TRAFFIC, we are doing online promotions for the film which begins it's Pay Per View run tomorrow, on July 17th. Would you be into helping us promote the film and get the word out? If so, here's what you can do to help. Put up a banner on your site and link to the film's page on Universal's site, we'll send you some swag in return...." "Just make sure you LINK the banner to this site, http://www.universalstudios.com/ppv/ Webmasters who help out will be entered into a random drawing to win a very cool prize package that relates to the film." An interesting offer, until the webmasters check out the link above. At the link you are invited to "Tell-A-Friend and $1 will be donated to Partnership for a Drug-Free America" Really! And they then provide a link to http://www.drugfreeamerica.org/ where the headline is "The War on Drugs is Working" Universal Pictures wants you to send friends messages thru their page about their Pay Per View release, and they will donate when you do! The DrugSense webmaster provided a firm NO response to the request as did others. On Tuesday, 24 July Universal Studios issued a spin control press release trying to defend their tie to the Partnership. PLEASE HELP REFORM by sending your own message to Universal Pictures telling them what you think about this offer! If enough of you act, Universal Pictures may well listen. Your actions in the past have caused others to back away from big mistakes! The easy way to do it is to simply compose your message, then copy it into the webform for as many of the contacts as you wish at this webpage: http://www.universalstudios.com/homepage/html/contact_us/ There you need to click an "I Accept" link to go to a page which has links to webforms of this huge company. Each webform reaches a different office. There are about a dozen contacts who deserve to receive your message. Of particular importance are the Links at Universal Pay-Per-View Philanthropy / Corporate Giving / Movies / General & Miscellaneous Business Development / Marketing / Promotions / Link Requests PRESS RELEASE There is also a press release rationalizing this egregious behavior at http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n000/a008.html Just DO it PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR MESSAGE OR TELL US WHAT YOU DID (Letter, Phone, fax etc.) Please post a copy your letter or report your action to the sent letter list () if you are subscribed, or by E-mailing a copy directly to Your letter will then be forwarded to the list with so others can learn from your efforts and be motivated to follow suit This is VERY IMPORTANT as it is the one important way we have of gauging our impact and effectiveness. SAMPLE MESSAGE Dear Sir, I was shocked to hear about a Universal Pictures promotion for the Pay Per View release of TRAFFIC. As you may know, drug policy reform groups worldwide promoted TRAFFIC upon it's release because it so clearly opens the debate on drug policy. These same groups were offered rewards for placing a banner on their sites linked to http://www.universalstudios.com/ppv/ But at that webpage we find that you wish us to use a webform to "Tell-A-Friend and $1 will be donated to Partnership for a Drug-Free America" This is an insult to us all! The Partnership does not stand for debate on drug policy. Their name says it all. On their homepage the feature article is titled "The War on Drugs is Working." Didn't anyone at Universal actually watch TRAFFIC? At the very end the drug czar walked away from the job because the War on Drugs is really a war on the people of the U.S. A war that has a half million in jail. A war that is step by step turning this land into a police state. We know that the Partnership has close ties with the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Could it be that Universal Pictures will obtain payola from ONDCP for this action? We all know how much damage was done to a variety of media, TV shows, magazines, and so on, when it was discovered that they had (and the FCC said it was illegal for TV) altered content to receive ONDCP payola. The word about your action is rapidly spreading across the internet. Don't expect any support from the drug policy reform community until this blunder is corrected! Yes, we encourage everyone to see TRAFFIC. But not thru Pay Per View under these conditions. Richard Lake Chief Warrant Officer, U.S. Army, Retired Senior Editor DrugNews Please note If you choose to use this as a model please modify it at least somewhat so that Universal Pictures does not receive numerous copies of the same message. ADDITIONAL INFO to help you in your letter writing efforts 3 Tips for Letter Writers: http://www.mapinc.org/3tips.htm Letter Writers Style Guide: http://www.mapinc.org/style.htm TO SUBSCRIBE, DONATE, VOLUNTEER TO HELP, OR UPDATE YOUR EMAIL SEE http://www.drugsense.org/hurry.htm TO UNSUBSCRIBE SEE http://www.drugsense.org/unsub.htm Prepared by Richard Lake htt://www.mapinc.org/rlake/ Focus Alert Specialist

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