According to the Ad Council, an organization that promotes public service campaigns, people who are not civically active run the risk of getting "mannequinism," a fictional disease that renders its victims plastic and immobile.

The "disease" is being used as a metaphor in a national advertising campaign to get 18- to 24- year-olds to be more engaged in their communities. People who do not get involved are compared to lifeless mannequins.

"The campaign is really about engaging today's youth," said Kathy Crosby, senior vice president and group campaign director.

Alan Fox, an East Lansing resident, knows about getting involved with community.

He was elected to the East Lansing City Council in 1977, when he was still enrolled at MSU.

"There is no reason for students to think that someone else will do it for them," he said. "Getting involved is something that people need to be persuaded to do."

Preventing mannequinism isn't that difficult. Just reading a newspaper or talking to friends about important issues is enough to prevent it, Crosby said.

"It's about doing what you can, when you can," she said.

According to The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, more than half of 15- to 25-year-olds are completely disengaged from civic life, meaning they are not active in either politics or their local community.

The campaign is using radio spots, TV ads, flyers, public demonstrations and a Web site, fightmannequinism.org, to get youth more involved.

The Web site has tips and resources that help people get going, as well as a blog of a 21-year-old who is dedicated to fighting mannequinism.

People also can send in online movie files of mannnequins in funny situations or sign up to get more information through AOL Instant Messenger, Crosby said.

"A lot of ad marketing targeted toward (18- to 24-year-olds) is nontraditional," said David Regan, an advertising instructor at MSU.

The fight against mannequinism is similar to the anti-smoking "Truth" campaign in that respect, he said.

"We're trying to stay ahead of the curve on what interests kids," Crosby said.

Caitlin Davis, a spokeswoman for the campaign, is an example of a non-mannequin.

"I've always been really involved in my community," she said.

She is 20 years old and has joined the Ad Council to promote the fight against mannequinism.

"We're just trying to get youth to get out there and get involved," she said.

She has also traveled to several college campuses to promote the campaign.

Programs like this have been set up since the early 1980s to promote voting during election years, but this is the first time the campaign has been extended for all civil activity in years, Crosby said.

The idea of mannequinism also is new and is the direct result of extensive research the Ad Council did before launching the campaign, she said.

The idea of using a fake, tongue-in-cheek disease to promote something is not common.

The Ad Council put it together for the Federal Voting Assistance Program, which is funding the campaign.

The program was created to help foster voting and keep citizens informed about voting.

Although the entire program is about being involved with community and politics, the Ad Council and the voting program are making sure to stay nonpartisan, Crosby said.

"We are very careful not to appear on one side of the political spectrum," she said

The program is too young to judge its success, Crosby said.

But there have been about 58,000 unique visitors to the Web site since its launch on March 8, "which is pretty good," she said.

The visits to the colleges also seemed to be successful, Davis said.

"We got a great response from the students," she said.