The effectiveness of the campaign was assessed in three studies, one conducted by the Home Office Research Unit, and two conducted for the Central Office of Information at the request of the Home Office. The Home Office study compared the levels of four measures of vandalism during the campaign period (February 1, 1978, to April 30, 1978,) and those during the equivalent period in 1977. Attention was also paid to the monthly levels of vandalism in the interval between these two periods. This comparison was made for selected places in Northwest England where the publicity was transmitted ('test area') as well as for a 'control' area in Northeast England (where Granada television was not transmitted). None of the evaluations provided any reliable evidence that the advertising in the Granada television area had a significant effect on parents' attitudes to vandalism or on the amount of vandalism committed. Two reasons were suggested to account for the failure of purely persuasive offender-oriented campaigns: (1) potential offenders are unlikely to be moved by exhortation or generalized threats unless they have reason to believe that the risks of detection are worsened and (2) remote advertising messages may stand little chance of competing with the immediate pressures operating at the time an offense is being considered. Footnotes and tabular data are given.