(Photo credit: Courtesy of CFOC)
Here’s something to think about the next time you’re trapped on the ever-less-dependable subway: the sanctity of marriage. Coming soon to the New York transit system is a national campaign promoting the ol’ ball and chain. “Married people earn more money.” “Kids of married parents do better in school.” “Married people live longer.” “Marriage works.” So say the get-hitched solicitations that have been plastered alongside photos of young brides and grooms in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., since February 1. It’s all part of a new marketing strategy from the abstinence-advocacy group Campaign for Our Children that is scheduled to hit New York’s subways and buses later this spring. The idea is that if teens learn to respect and look forward to marriage, they might not get pregnant before they tie the knot. The group, which is planning to take the message to other cities as well, is eligible to receive state and federal funding through the $870 million Helping America’s Youth initiative, a largely faith-based program announced by the Bush administration March 7. “We’re just trying to keep kids from having kids,” says Campaign for Our Children president Hal Donofrio. The MTA takes no official position on the ads, though spokesperson Tom Kelly cracks, “That campaign must’ve been invented by someone who’s not married.”