Ken Westermann’s career in broadcasting and media production has taken him from Germany to Seattle and back to St. Louis. Westermann began his master’s degree in communication in 2020 while working at UMSL. Next month, he’ll present a research paper on the “This Is Your Brain on Drugs” public health campaign at the Conference on Communication & Media Studies at Sorbonne University in Paris. (Photo by Derik Holtmann)

In 1987, the Partnership for a Drug-Free America launched what would become one of the most famous public service announcements in the history of health communication: “This Is Your Brain on Drugs.”

In the first 30-second commercial, a man holds up an egg and says, “This is your brain.” He then motions to a ripping hot frying pan on the stovetop, “This is drugs.” He cracks the egg into the pan, which sizzles and sputters, and then delivers the PSA’s pointed message, “This is your brain on drugs. Any questions?”

Ken Westermann vividly remembers watching the PSA during its initial run.

“I was a teenager when those ran, and I was the target demographic,” Westermann said. “Still to this day, when I see an egg sizzling in a frying pan, I think, ‘There’s my brain on drugs.’ So, it had a lasting impact. It stuck with me.”

More than three decades later, Westermann revisited the PSA as a communication master’s student at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. Westermann wrote a research paper on the history and effectiveness of the campaign for Associate Professor Stephanie Van Stee’s course on health communication. Now, he has been invited to share his paper with an international audience of communication students and professionals in Paris.

Westermann will present his paper at the tenth annual Conference on Communication & Media Studies at Sorbonne University in Paris. The conference will run from Sept. 10-12, and it serves as a forum for discussions on the role of communication and media in society. Presenters will touch on a variety of themes including media literacy, media technology and media theory.

His presentation will focus on the “This Is Your Brain on Drugs” campaign, particularly how it was an early use of the Extended Parallel Process Model in public health communication. The EPPM is a communication theory that relies on fear-inducing messages to change behavior. The presentation will also cover how the campaign evolved over the ensuing years.

Alan Heisel, professor of communication and chair of the Department of Communication and Media, encouraged Westermann to submit his work to the conference. Westermann had intended to submit two other papers – one on pharmaceutical advertising and another on the vocal timbre of women in executive roles – but the conference only accepted one submission and took his first.

Westermann is looking forward to the conference, especially since he will earn three credit hours for the endeavor, and he has been working to hone the presentation ahead of the event.

“I’m feeling pretty good,” he said. “I’ve practiced it, and I’ve rehearsed it a little bit. So, I feel like it’s going to flow out well. It’s exciting and a little nerve wracking.”

Westermann initially came to UMSL to work as an audio and visual technician and stagehand at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center after a broadcasting and media career that took him across globe.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in broadcasting from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, he took a job with DEWE Studios in Germany working as a grip for televised soccer matches across the country. It was an exciting first step to his career, but he had to return to the U.S. when his work permit expired. Luckily, the move home coincided with his brother’s relocation to Seattle.

Westermann thought Seattle seemed like an interesting adventure, so he followed his brother to the Pacific Northwest. He spent the next 25 years in the Emerald City working in television and video production and eventually broadcasting live surgeries for the Seattle Science Foundation. As his parents began to age, he decided to return to St. Louis.

At the Touhill, Westermann quickly became an integral part of a well-oiled event production machine. He particularly liked working on St. Louis Ballet productions.

“Once you learn the house, it’s routine,” he said. “You get familiar with where everything’s supposed to be, and the flow of it all. Once you figure out the flow, you’re like, ‘Oh, this is easy.’”

However, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 disrupted the flow of everyday life for people across the country. Since Westermann had previous experience with teleconferencing technology, he was tapped to help lead the university’s Zoom operations. It was also about that time that he enrolled in the communication master’s program.

Over the past five years, Westermann has steadily worked toward finishing his degree while working full-time – now as the lead audio visual technician with the Armstrong Teasdale law firm. As his time at UMSL begins to wind down, he knows his decision to go back to school will help him achieve a long-time dream.

“My wife and I have been looking at moving to Europe for a long time and having a master’s degree carries more weight over there,” Westermann said. “We just bought a house in Portugal, and we’re trying to move in the next, hopefully, six months. So, having that master’s degree in my back pocket will be helpful.”