Putting an End to Illegal Downloading!

Advertising to stop illegal downloading: You see it everywhere! Every time you go to watch a DVD, go to a movie and now even television has commercials for it! So what's the problem? Why isn't it working? Is the marketing campaign not being exposed to its target audience? Is there not enough exposure for the campaign? Are the advertisements themselves of poor quality? Is there not enough capital to back up the campaign?

NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!

The problem is the marketing campaign itself! The entire campaign is based off the notion that "downloading is illegal" and that it is "morally wrong". I mean how many times have we seen the advertisement that rambles on about how "you wouldn't steal someones purse would you? You wouldn't steal someones car would you?... Well, downloading illegally is stealing. Piracy: it's a crime". Let me just say this: WHO CARES????? Obliviously, no one since it's still such an epidemic! Why should anyone care? I mean are the police going to storm your house and whisk you off to prison, or even give you a ticket at that matter? NO! In addition to that, the current advertisements don't even address who is being hurt by this so called crime. In fact, more than likely, the general public doesn't feel too guilty for taking a couple dollars from the wallets of bands like U-2 or artists like Brittney Spears. Why should they?

This is my first journalism class. Before this class, I had no idea that the top acts of a specific record company subsidize the acts of many, many others, and I would be willing to bet that the majority of the general population doesn't know this either, or at least, doesn't understand the repercussions that illegal downloading has when considering this.

That is where an advertising campaign should be focused! The advertising campaign should be focused on how illegal downloading limits the talent pool of new artists, on how it cuts short the careers of many, many new musicians, how many artists chances for success are taken away by the repercussions of illegal downloading because it greatly limits the amount of "subsidy" that can happen. The new marketing campaign should focus on how illegal downloading is killing the creative music possibilities. It should also focus on the smaller bands and artists, show their side of the story. An average person is much more likely to feel guilty or wrong about taking away from a budding band or artist, than say, Madonna.

Any thoughts?