Previous ads had focused on the Census' effect on congressional reapportionment. But tell them the Census affects their day care and they reach for the pencil and paper. They said it was irrelevant. We had to make it personally relevant. The bureau had other challenges as well.
Most ad campaigns aim for a specific market within the general population.
I don't know if there's ever been a campaign that had such a broad target audience. And to make sure it got the message out to all citizens, the bureau created ads in 17 languages. While nobody likes to become a punch line, Sutten looks at the bright side when it comes to Leno and Letterman. Based on a nationwide poll of 492 adults who had seen the Census ads. Overall average based on 227 ads.