Amnesty Ad Campaign Hopes to Heat Up Cool Response

Acknowledging that illegal immigrants have been slow to sign up for amnesty, a West Los Angeles consortium of media agencies hired by U.S. immigration authorities plans to mount an “aggressive” wave of nationwide advertising early next month to encourage more to apply.

The campaign, including a series of about 15 television and radio spots, will try to convey a simple message: The amnesty program is no sting operation concocted by the Immigration and Naturalization Service. It’s OK to sign up. There is no reason to wait.

The campaign is part of an 18-month, $10.7-million contract awarded by the immigration service in April to the Justice Group, a consortium of three media companies headed by Republican Party activist and businessman Fernando Oaxaca, to persuade illegal aliens, historically mistrustful of La Migra , that federal authorities are sincere in carrying out the provisions of the landmark immigration law that was signed last year.

The success of the legalization program, according to supporters and critics alike, may hinge in part on the efforts of the Oaxaca-led campaign to persuade illegal aliens to come out of the shadows. The campaign has been plagued by some glitches but is ready to swing into high gear, Oaxaca said.

“They’re not in an enviable position,” said Linda Wong, an associate counsel with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and longtime critic of immigration service policies.

A key advertising executive behind the campaign, Norma Orci of La Agencia de Orci & Asociados, thinks the task is difficult but not insurmountable.

“This isn’t Joe Isuzu talking,” she said, referring to a series of car commercials. “We’re not selling a bar of soap. We’re selling a half inch of (INS) regulations . . . the official word. There is trust in our community in the official word. But telling isn’t selling. You gotta show them.”

The three companies--Coronado Communications, La Agencia de Orci and Hill & Knowlton--beat 11 other firms for the immigration service contract. Coronado Communications does marketing research work and is the parent firm of a Spanish-language radio station in Rancho Cucamonga; La Agencia directs Spanish-language advertising for such entities as Disneyland and the California Milk Advisory Council and Hill & Knowlton bills itself as the world’s largest public relations firm.

Citing the continuing fear of the immigration service, critics note that many illegal aliens have shied away from the amnesty program. The first-month national turnout--about 62,000 applications were returned from among 900,000 forms handed out--suggest to some that many of the estimated 4 million eligible illegal immigrants are reluctant.

Under the law, illegal immigrants are eligible for amnesty if they have lived in the United States since before Jan. 1, 1982. They have until May 4, 1988, to apply for legalization.

Part of the slow turnout, Oaxaca said in a recent interview, was caused by the campaign’s initial TV and radio commercials in Spanish, which reminded aliens that they had one year to sign up. The ads were in tune with fears that applicants would flood amnesty centers on May 5, the first day of legalization.

Instead, faced with a steady trickle of applicants, Oaxaca and other executives have decided on a new round of advertising, a mixture of commercial ads and public service announcements in English and Spanish, to prompt a greater response.

“We’re going to be prompting them to come into the water,” he said.

In addition to the ads, the group has produced booklets and brochures in several languages, including English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Polish and Arabic. The group may also try more unusual methods of getting the word out.

One idea being considered, Oaxaca said, is printing messages on milk cartons. Harold Ezell, Immigration service regional commissioner, said the agency is one of the sponsors of a boxing card Saturday at the Forum to spread the word about amnesty.

Oaxaca and others in the public relations effort, which also features anti-job discrimination ads aimed at employers, suggest that slow response by aliens is not necessarily linked to fear of the immigration service. Potential applicants are simply being cautious, he said.

“They’re incredibly aware of the law,” Oaxaca said. “They’re saying, ‘I’ll wait to see if my cousin makes it, if my next-door neighbor makes it without any problems.’ ”

The key elements of the new wave of ads will focus on the advantages of signing up now for legalization:

- If amnesty is granted quickly, there is a possibility of a higher-paying job.

- Legal aliens can travel more freely outside the United States.

- The knowledge that they are living within the law will give aliens peace of mind.

On television, the campaign has used the services of two actors--Eddie Albert in English and Luis Avalos in Spanish--and is looking into the availability of others. Avalos’ TV credits include “Condo” and “The Electric Company.”

The initial ads about amnesty have appeared nationwide, with major focus on the Sun Belt regions that have large Latino communities. In addition, about $100,000 was spent on advertising aimed at employers in nine major newspapers, including The Times.

The campaign has hit some snags. For example, English-language public service announcements about employer sanctions ran into stiff competition from ads that play heavily on recent headlines--AIDS and the anti-drug campaign.

And, some local TV executives said, they have used their own public service ads about legalization instead of those produced by the Justice Group.

“But we’re also buying prime TV time, like on Cable News Network, so we can control that,” Oaxaca said.