In 1996, acting on a recommendation of its Violence Prevention Interagency Task Force, the State of Minnesota began a five-year, large-scale, antiviolence mass media campaign titled "You're the One Who Can Make the Peace" [Make the Peace]. Initially managed by the Office of Drug Policy and Violence Prevention [ODP] in the Department of Children, Families & Learning, the ODP and the program was transferred to the Department of Public Safety in 1999 [Minn. Laws 1999 c205 art1 sec68]. Funding for the program ran from July 1, 1996 through June 30, 2001. A working group of government communicators and violence prevention specialists were gathered to steer the campaign development process and the professional communications firm of Lynch Jarvis Jones, Inc., Minneapolis, was retained to market the campaign. The initial development included a statewide telephone survey and dozens of focus groups conducted to assess the attitudes of the citizens. Additional focus groups were conducted with each segment of the campaign. Four statewide campaigns were completed through the program. The 1997-1998 campaign focused on the general adult public and included mass media and community outreach efforts. For 1998-1999, the campaign logo was revamped and the audience focus was turned more towards men. The Kids Campaign was undertaken in 1999-2000, with youth-oriented peace messages targeting the state's children and teens through television, schools, and community outreach. The 2000-2001 campaign used two separate messages: "What If?" to motivate individuals to think about what they could do in their lives to make it more peaceful, and "It's Working," celebrating the program's success. These messages were placed on billboards, bus sides, indoor ads, radio, school and community outreach materials, and Peacemaker of the Month print ads in statewide publications.
From the description of Make the Peace Campaign records, 1996-2001, 2004. (Minnesota Historical Society Library). WorldCat record id: 317123891
