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Agencywestat.com

VERB. It's what you do.

Also: VERB · VERB Youth Media Campaign

“It's what you do.”

Congressionally funded CDC social marketing campaign (2002-2006) that branded physical activity like a youth product to get 'tweens' aged 9-13 moving, using commercial advertising on kids' TV, school and community promotions, and four multicultural agencies.

Years
2002–2006
Country
United States
Budget
$125 million appropriated by Congress in 2001 to develop the campaign; total program spending reported higher
Topic
Physical activity
Asks people to
Start
Strategy
Self efficacySocial norms
Channel
EventsPrintRadioSchoolTV
Audience
ParentsYouth
Children 9-13 (general market plus African American, Hispanic/Latino, Asian American and American Indian tweens); parents as secondary audience.

Evidence

Quasi-experimentalPositive

Nationally representative cohort of 2,257 parent-child dyads with propensity scoring. Year 1: 9-10-year-olds aware of VERB did 34% more free-time physical activity sessions per week than unaware peers. After 2 years, a dose-response effect: more reported exposure, more physical activity and more positive attitudes.

Sponsor (who paid)

Credits (who made it)

Sources

  1. Huhman ME et al. Evaluation of a national physical activity intervention for children: VERB campaign, 2002-2004. Am J Prev Med 2007;32(1):38-43 evaluation · 2007 · DOI 10.1016/j.amepre.2006.08.030 · PMID 17218189
  2. Huhman M et al. Effects of a mass media campaign to increase physical activity among children: year-1 results of the VERB campaign. Pediatrics 2005;116(2):e277-84 evaluation · 2005 · DOI 10.1542/peds.2005-0043 · PMID 16061581
  3. VERB campaign description, Preventing Chronic Disease (July 2004) reference · 2004
  4. VERB multicultural approach, Preventing Chronic Disease (April 2005) reference · 2005
  5. Archived CDC youth campaign site archive
  6. Huhman ME et al. The Influence of the VERB campaign on children's physical activity in 2002 to 2006. Am J Public Health 2010 evaluation · 2010 · DOI 10.2105/ajph.2008.142968 · PMID 19608963
  7. Huhman M et al. Initial outcomes of the VERB campaign: tweens' awareness and understanding of campaign messages. Am J Prev Med 2008 evaluation · 2008 · DOI 10.1016/j.amepre.2008.03.006 · PMID 18471604
  8. Berkowitz JM et al. Did augmenting the VERB campaign advertising in select communities have an effect on awareness, attitudes, and physical activity?. Am J Prev Med 2008 evaluation · 2008 · DOI 10.1016/j.amepre.2008.03.005 · PMID 18471606

Research notes

Lead general-market agency not confirmed in sources seen (often attributed to Saatchi & Saatchi; verify). Ads predate Meta/Google ad libraries; look in archived CDC site and Ad Council/AdViews-type archives. Total spend figure (Wikipedia cites $339 million) needs a primary source. Credits checked 2026-10-22 against fetched pages: Westat (CDC Stacks, read via Wayback: Youth Media Campaign Longitudinal Survey 2002-2004 data file user's manual, corporate authors CDC and Westat). Evaluation sources added 2026-10-22 (citation snowballing / helpline pass): Huhman 2010, Huhman 2008, Berkowitz 2008; evidence level and outcome unchanged.

Record cases/cdc-verb.json, updated 2026-10-22· Link to this campaign