Chilling New PSA Campaign Warns Suburban Parents about Dangers of SexTrafficking

January is Human Trafficking Awareness month, and the non-profit ad agency Serve Marketing is looking to draw attention to this growing epidemic. Only they are doing so with a shocking twist. Telling people that if you live in the suburbs, your children are not safe from sex traffickers.

This provocative campaign entitled “Your Suburbs Are Not Safe,” was created for the Wisconsin non-profit, Lacey’s Hope Project, and launches this week in outdoor, TV, radio, digital and social media channels.

“People that live in the suburbs think of sex trafficking as something that happens somewhere else,” explains Serve volunteer creative director, Gary Mueller. “The reality is, sex trafficking is a growing problem, everywhere and we need to make people more vigilant.”

Mueller hopes the campaign will not only create greater awareness but lead to great education on the subject. Serve also created a website, LaceysHopeProject.org where they can learn the warning signs, find resources and become better educated on the issue.

Besides creating some bold PSA’s, the agency built much of their campaign around the surprising story of a sex trafficking victim and the organization’s founder, Emmy Myers, who grew up in the suburbs only to be groomed and later trafficked for sex for many years. The courageous Myers even agreed to be the literal face of the campaign, with her image appearing on billboards with headlines like, “I was sold to the highest bidder.

Her story of survival is also told in a short documentary-style video highlighting the signs of a sex trafficking victim, while also shedding light on how her ordeal impacted her family, and the common signs of sex trafficking victims.

The campaign was launched around Milwaukee, which has been ranked as high as 3^rd in the nation for sex trafficking and cases involving minors have been reported in all 72 counties of Wisconsin.

Serve is the country's only all-volunteer, nonprofit advertising agency, for more information go to servemarketing.org.

Title: Your Suburbs Are Not Safe 

Agency: Serve Marketing 

Client: Lacey’s Hope Project 

Executive Creative Director: Gary Mueller

Creative Director / Copywriter:  Samantha Smith

Art Directors: Alison Galarza, Austin Kelley

Photographer: Meredith Meier 

Retouching: Anthony Giacomino

Director: Robb Fischer

Broadcast Producers: Mary Pat Fischer, Loreta Dilaveri 

Account Executives: Laura Gainor, Lauren Sutter 

Social Media: Lauren Sutter

PR: Emily Wright 

Website: Fred Ziegler, Hunter Ruth, Bryon Schmear

Print Production: Rob Birdsall, Stacey Soden

Broadcast Traffic Manager: Karen Nennig

Casting: Oncata

Sound Production: Peter Batchelder, Independent Edit

PSA Edit: John Elmendorf, Wonder Wonder

Documentary Edit: Dave Kuhnen, Terri Burmeister