The U.S. Census Bureau is putting marketing messages in soaps and fortune cookies in foreign languages in an attempt to improve the number of participants.
"What could be a more fitting character to weave into the plot of a steamy Spanish-language soap opera than a Census worker?
Anything goes this year as companies such as the U.S. Spanish-language network Telemundo and groups across the nation work with the Census Bureau to cook up creative and quirky ways to get the word out about the 2010 Census.
In South Florida, Census partners are considering repeating an approach they used in 2000: distributing fortune cookies with "Make Yourself Count" fortunes in Chinese. Census messages may be attached to Chinese menus, too.
In the Chicago region, the Census Bureau has recruited 10 former National Football League stars to visit classrooms. They will give out autographed photos that carry a Census message on the back."
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