I love Kiefer Sutherland -- I'm a child of the 80s who can cite most of his movie roles (I especially loved him in "The Lost Boys" and "Flatliners"). And I love Common Sense Media -- I think they are hands down the most enlightened resource for parents on teaching their kids/teens to be media literate. Their Internet Survival Guide is a much more coherent version of this site. And we all know FOX didn't realize that buying MySpace meant dealing with freaked out parents, school administrators, law enforcement and Republican congressmen who are desperate to be reelected. So who do they send to save the day in a bunch of new PSAs? Jack Bauer.

To me it seems like there are two audiences for this campaign -- parents and teens, and I think a separate online guide should be built just for teens. FOX is using Jack to speak to parents...even those parents who happen to be on MySpace. I wonder how many parents of teenagers are huge "24" fans? I mean I love "24" even though I stick my fingers in my ears and go "blah blah blah!" whenever the torture scenes come up which usually involve Jack either torturing someone else (even those he loves) or being tortured by terrorists. Maybe to give the impression that MySpace, like Jack, is tough on predators? Maybe the campaign is really designed to reach DADS, who may be more fearful of their daughters being lured away be creepy men? Or maybe it's meant to appeal to the "get tough on crime" sentiment that seems to win many elections. Maybe Jack is the right guy for this job, and I'm completely wrong.

Since FOX can't seem to do anything with MySpace that doesn't also promote its television shows, I would recast these PSAs for parents with The Hills. Yes, Hank and Peggy. They are from the heartland, genuinely care about their son Bobby and are as sweet and earnest as it gets. They may not be nearly as popular as Peter and Lois on "Family Guy" or Homer and Marge, but I think they are the right FOX parents to get the word out about online safety. My husband said everyone knows Jack and not nearly as many people know Hank and Peggy, but I guess that's why I don't work in advertising!

As for the teens, I would use some of the most popular bands on MySpace and other home grown celebs to spread the word. If we have to use a FOX personality, I would vote for Brian the dog. Granted he's a bit of an alcoholic, but teens LOVE that show. They could do some funny "Office"-style PSAs (like the ones on NBC) with Brian and definitely get teens to click on anything.

P.S. Lost Remote tipped me off to this Newsweek column calling out Dateline NBC for its "all predators, all the time" approach to covering the Internet.

Posted by anastasia