Straight Talk

A multicolored map of the U.S. appears on the television screen and slowly begins to burn from the center. As the flame widens, voice-over narration accompanies a dramatic juxtaposition of images and objects to conjure up for the viewer a reckless driver, an unconcerned citizen littering a street, a man confronted by a bottle-laden table who declares, "One more won't hurt," and another man's gruff refusal to sign a petition to fight pollution. After the map is burned totally black, a wind begins to scatter the ashes and a deep, doom-ridden voice warns: "Great civilizations decay from within. But it's up to you. Will history repeat itself?" This apocalyptic message is not the handiwork of aging cynics gone sour on the American dream but of six Naperville, Ill., teenagers. Invited by A. Eicoff & Co., a Chicago advertising agency, to dream up a 60-second public-service spot, the youngsters produced a stark, unadorned outcry against what they conceived to be a deadening decline in the quality of American life. When agency professionals suggested that they coat their bitter pill with a cartoon format or offer solutions to the problems they were portraying, the students flatly refused. The commercial will be aired as is in Chicago next week, and the agency hopes to distribute it nationally. "They wouldn't put any icing on the cake," says Carole Darr, the agency's creative director. "They figured nothing will ever change if you give people an out."

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