AD BRINGS OUT PLAYFUL SIDE OF IRS

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, January 3, 1993                   TAG: 9301030055
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO   
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium
AD BRINGS OUT PLAYFUL SIDE OF IRS
Here's a real news flash: The Internal Revenue Service is doing something funny. On purpose, no less.
The agency, whose warmth and wit have heretofore been obscured by its dogged pursuit of your money, has introduced a new ad campaign that pokes some fun at the rigors of the tax season - and indirectly at its own super-serious image.
The IRS hopes its new radio, TV and print ads will achieve what could be one of the more formidable goals of modern advertising: convincing taxpayers that the IRS is there to help.
The public service campaign is highlighted by a TV spot in which a technician measures a patient's reaction to various stress-provoking phrases: "traffic jams" . . . "root canals" . . . "doing your taxes." The first two register wildly on a monitor, but the third evokes nothing but a straight line. "Maybe he didn't understand the question," observes an assistant technician.
A narrator then explains that the IRS has a variety of programs designed to assist taxpayers in preparing their returns.
As part of its effort, the IRS has even adopted a new slogan: "The Internal Revenue Service. Answers. Assistance. At Your Service."
"The reaction would be almost violent if the IRS said "We're nice guys, we're misunderstood, we're here to help,' " said Mike Knaisch, executive vice president in the Norfolk, Va., office of Earle Palmer Brown Associates Inc., the ad agency that produced the campaign. "We have to establish an entry point to build credibility. The best way to do it is to acknowledge the way people feel in a disarming, humorous way."
IRS officials concede that the agency is not exactly beloved by the public, but say the campaign isn't primarily designed to build up its image. "We understand that taxes are a serious subject, but we don't want people to believe we take it so seriously that we can't help them," said agency spokeswoman Ellen Murphy.
Earle Palmer Brown, based in Bethesda, Md., produced the IRS campaign for $125,000.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB