City launches teen pregnancy ad campaign
The city is launching a new ad campaign to “further reduce” teen pregnancy, featuring babies seemingly delivering alarming statements about the difficulties of parenting.
One ad shows a little girl looking concerned, and reads: “Honestly, Mom… chances are he won’t stay with you. What happens to me?”
The ad further notes that 90 percent of teen parents don’t marry each other.
Another ad also emphasizes marriage as a requisite for good parenting, declaring: “If you finish high school, get a job, and get married before having children, you have a 98 percent chance of not being in poverty.”
When asked about whether the mayor believes married parents are better than unmarried ones, referencing that last ad as an indicator of that sentiment, press secretary Marc La Vorgna said, “We are presenting a fact in each of the ads, including [that one].”
The posters will be displayed on subways and bus shelters around the city. The campaign also involves an interactive texting program, as each poster advises to “text ‘NOT NOW’ to 877877 for the real cost of teen pregnancy.”
Sending that text signs the sender up for “fun games and quizzes from the Human Resources Administration,” the city agency responsible for the ad campaign.
Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat
