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Samantha Mora
UWRT 1101
Victoria Hamby
Due: 11/24/14
One Too Many
Every two minutes, a person is injured in a drunk driving crash (Get Involved).
Needless to say, driving while under the influence of alcohol is a serious problem which is why
our social message is One too many, dont drink and drive. Though our message can be directed
to anyone, my group and I decided the three main audiences to present our topic would be to
high school students, college students and older adults. We chose high schoolers first because
they are the most nave. Most worry more about fitting in and are prone to succumbing to peer
pressure which puts them at a higher risk than any other audience. High school is when the use
of alcohol becomes prevalent and though not every high school student is consuming alcohol, we
felt that it would be best to inform them of the dangers and consequences that driving while
impaired can bring for them to keep in mind for their later years. And for that reason, we decided
the best form of genre to inform the masses would be a public service announcement. Our next
intended audience was college students. Being a college student myself, I see how alcohol is a
common item in our lives. This is also a time where we are finally free from a parent/guardians
grasp so many have the tendency to go wild and not think things through. One in five college
students admitted to driving drunk and 40% of students also admitted to riding with someone
who had been drinking (High-risk driving drunk) Also, for many college students, their 21st

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birthday will happen while in school which now gives them the legal freedom to drink without
persecution. Though it is expected for these students to now be mature enough to know better
than to drive while under the influence, the drunk driving rate is highest between the ages of 2125 (SADD statistics). We decided the genre that would best benefit this group was a pamphlet.
Our final audience was older adults. We wanted to make sure we targeted them because its still
a problem even at their age, but mainly because they more often than not have kids/ youth that
they care for. We felt that by making a billboard, it would be a quick reminder to them to inform
and stress the importance to the younger generation about drinking and driving. We believe that
if all our other forms of genre didnt get through to our audiences, we at least would have the
older generation to help spread the word.
As I stated earlier, high school students are the most nave out of the three audiences
which is why we could use the video as a scare tactic. Those in high school are living in a
generation ruled by technology; therefore, we believe the best and most efficient way to break
through and be heard by the youth is through the use of a video. We intend for the video to be
played in classrooms in every grade, in both public and private school, to insure we reach every
student. Cameron created a mock-script that told a story about a man in medical school who
decided to go out for a few drinks, which he was allowed to do because he was of legal age, but
then made one bad decision to drink and drive which eventually landed him in jail on
manslaughter charges, along with being stripped away of any hopes of continuing his career in
the medical field. Some conventions that would be a part of the video include dramatic

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music/general overtone, quick and memorable slogan, slightly gruesome and dramatic crash
scene followed by a black screen with narration warning you of the consequences the action can
bring. We chose these conventions because they were attention grabbing. The music sets the
mood for the audience which will help us out in the long run. A memorable slogan is almost a
necessity because it will stay in the viewers mind even if they do not remember all of the minor
details. The crash scene is one of the most important elements of the video because it adds a
dramatic, visual effect. It literally shows you what can happen when you choose to drink and
drive rather than just being told about the possible risks. Lastly, the black screen with narration
is a common convention in every PSA. It gives the ability to restate our issue and remind you yet
again of the consequences of your actions. We believe this form of genre would be successful
because it wouldnt be too lengthy, it would capture the high school students attention, and it is
a genre that this age group identifies most with. As a whole, I liked Camerons idea for the PSA
but I wasnt too fond of his actual story line. I feel like it would have more of an impact if the
man was to hit someone and kill them, rather than getting hit and being convicted. I like that he
put a twist on it but again, there are a few minor changes I would have made in the script.
As college students ourselves, we came to the conclusion that a pamphlet would be the
best fit genre for this particular audience. It is a common genre used to inform us about multiple
issues and topics and we feel like its been successful thus far. We felt this way because you are
able to put a lot of information, such as facts and statistics, within the pamphlet and it still gets
your point across. Common conventions for our pamphlet were bullet points, facts and statistics,

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short summary of important information and pictures. The facts and statistics are an important
feature in a pamphlet because as college students, we are at that point where we dont just accept
information, we need proof. We are constantly questioning things and adding these elements to
our pamphlet will please our intended audience where as other audiences, such as high
schoolers, may find it boring. A short summary of information is useful because we wouldnt
want to overwhelm the reader with too many statistics. And by adding pictures, it gives our
pamphlet visuals to keep the reader engaged. A common convention that many pamphlets use is
long paragraphs loaded with information. Though college students want to know the facts, we
want to keep them interested and having them read a page of information is not the way to keep a
busy students attention. I believe Alex did a great job with the pamphlet, it was appealing to the
eye and it was easy to read. My only concern is not every college student will take the time to
read it. I feel like another genre option we could have chosen would be a flyer because it has
only the necessities. We could find one hard hitting statistic, an attention grabbing slogan and a
dramatic picture and it would get the job done just as well.
Our final genre of choice was a billboard. We assumed the adults were targeting, those
between the ages of 30-45, are already aware of the dangers of drinking and driving and would
view our billboard more as a friendly reminder. Even though we assume the majority of our
audience is knowledgeable, we know there is still a large number of adults who drink and drive
regardless of the consequences. As a business marketing major, I decided that the best way to
reach this audience was to try to strike their inner conscience. We want to constantly remind

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them that drinking while drunk is wrong by having a billboard they will pass by every day
whether it be for work or just daily routine. Conventions we chose to add to our genre were a
text that stood out and an image of a person after the wreck. We chose these conventions because
with a billboard, you have limited space so simple is best. The image isnt gruesome so those
aside from our intended audience wouldnt be offended and the text, It was only one drink,
was meant to be like a quote from the person who was injured to show that though they thought
that it would be okay to drive after consuming alcohol, it obviously was not. A convention that
was not included in our billboard was a telephone number for help hotlines or the local police
station. I felt like it would take away from the billboard but the more I think about it the more I
feel like we should have added it. I believe our genre was an effective one to choose because it
was attention grabbing and simple, to the point so our audience would be aware of our social
message just by taking a quick glance. Though I feel a billboard is an effective genre for this
audience, another form we could have chose would have been a commercial so we could add
more information along with reaching more people in our audience.
Overall, my group and I successfully chose genres that would reach all of our intended
audiences. My favorite and, in my opinion, best tailored genre would be the PSA. I think it
fulfills the duties of informing and interesting our audience of high school students in a way that
is common to them. It is best to try to implement the importance of not driving while drunk as
young as possible and by making a short video, the kids are gaining the knowledge without them
feeling like theyre being lectured to. The downfall for all of our genres was that we failed to add

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in the legal persecutions that can happen if caught drinking and driving. In the PSA we
mentioned how the man was charged with manslaughter and sent to prison, but we didnt add
any statistics. If we were to put some information on this subject then we would have three
extremely strong genres.

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Bibliography
"GET INVOLVED." MADD. Mothers Against Drunk Driving, n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.
"High-Risk Drinking in College: What We Know and What We Need To Learn." High-Risk
Drinking in College: Consequences of College Student Alcohol Abuse Consumption.
HealthDay, 2 June 2010. Web. 14 Nov. 2014.
"SADD Statistics." SADD Statistics. N.p., Apr. 2012. Web. 14 Nov. 2014.