Award-winning PSA warns teens that decorative contacts damage eyesight

With two clever videos and media outreach, the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s public service announcements garner more than 315 million media impressions.

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Even though decorative lenses are popular with Twilight, Lady Gaga and Avatar fans, it doesn’t mean they’re good for their health.

In fact, wearing nonprescription decorative lenses could cause blindness. To warn people about this and other dangers, the American Academy of Ophthalmology tied its latest PSA about these lenses to Halloween, a popular purchasing time for the lenses.

With a tiny budget and just two people, the marketing team released hundreds of media press releases, with links to its two video PSAs. National and regional press lists were targeted. The team created “This is your brain on drugs”-style Internet video PSAs. The 30-second video was for teens; the 90-second video was for parents.

It didn’t just stop with making the videos. Here are a few other things it did, according to Allison Neves, who submitted the entry:

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