Adlibbing: Inside PSAs

Shrek Resonates with Children to "Be a Player"

There have been recent press reports about the demand to recall Shrek as a spokesperson encouraging children to "Be a Player -- Get up and play an hour a day."

We know this PSA will help get kids off the couch because just like all Ad Council campaigns, we did extensive testing and found that Shrek is a credible and motivating character to deliver the message of getting more physical activity.  Play (as opposed to exercise) is the concept that tests best with kids and their parents.  And who is more playful than Shrek and his friends?

Press reports have been balanced and reporters have resisted taking a point of view on the use of Shrek to encourage play.  But dig a little deeper and you'll discover that readers comments to the demands to fire Shrek reveal that they are growing frustrated by groups who would prohibit a well loved character from encouraging exercise because they have promoted certain food.

My favorite is an email we received from the mother of two boys:

Dear Sir:

I disagree with the protest to the Shrek commercial. On a daily basis in our household, I'm constantly reminding my two boys (ages six and nine) to go outside and play rather than watch TV. They usually comply with some complaining, or after their show is finished, or after a few reminders etc...Well, after they viewed the Shrek commercial, they both jumped up, turned off the TV and ran outside. They said, "Mom, Shrek said the same thing - Go out and Play an hour a day..."

Well, I am extremely excited about this new campaign and the affect on my children! Why are there not more? Finally, there is something that my kids have immediately responded to, and I'm saddened that the first article I read in the news is the ongoing conflict of this commercial. I love the impact the Shrek commercial has had on my children - please don't remove it from the air. Please make more!

Sincerely,

Martin and Jennifer Nishikawa

parents of two boys, ages six and nine

All we can say is "thanks Mom."

The Perfect Holiday Campaign

As we all head out to share Christmas or Hanukkah with our families and friends, we are preparing for the "perfect" holiday.  There's always last minute shopping, wrapping, cards, cooking and the mad dash for the highway or airport.  Except for the stress imposed by a ridiculous timeframe (I'd love to see these holidays pushed back to February) it's very nice to focus nearly exclusively on what we can do for others.

It's the perfect season to turn our attention to the Generous Nation campaign that inspires people to act on their best intentions to help those in need.  View the campaign by visiting www.dontalmostgive.org.  The campaign, announced in September, is really just now getting into rotation in television and outdoor.  We are delighted that the Radio Advertising Bureau has selected Generous Nation for their holiday roadblock to be supported by over 12,000 radio stations through the holidays and all of January.  Newspaper PSAs go out today.

So who is it we want to "Give"?  Well, how about all those people who received multi million dollar bonuses at Goldman Saks?  But seriously, the astonishing fact is that 85% of Americans report that they give to charity.  So what is the goal for this campaign?  Not just one annual gift, but yearlong engagement.

It's only human, this "almost giving".  We are such an overscheduled society.  But what if everytime we saw someone in need we actually acted on the impulse to help.  Sometimes it's a donation of money.  But it doesn't have to be money.  Taking a meal to an elderly neighbor, a spare coat to the city coat drive, watching your neighbor's kids so she can take a much needed nap.  The opportunity is to sieze the moment.

I know this campaign will work.  Because generosity is part of the American DNA.  We simply need to acknowledge that if we don't act when we see the need, the chances are we won't act at all.  And that's the type of message so well suited to public service advertising.

Ad Council Celebrates Public Service

The Advertising Council’s Annual Public Service Awards Dinner is one of the premier events in the advertising industry. It was held on November 15 at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. More than 1,200 leaders of corporations, advertising agencies and the media attended to pay tribute to this year's honoree William C. Weldon, Chairman & CEO of Johnson & Johnson for his philanthropic dedication.

If you wish to view Peggy's remarks from the dinner please visit http://adcouncil.wmod.llnwd.net/a540/o1/adcouncil/tv/psad2006/peggy_conlon.wmv

Don't Almost Give. Give.

How many times have you seen someone who needed help -- passed a homeless person on the street, read about a family who lost everything, intended to bring an elderly neighbor a hot meal?  But then you got busy or forgot.  If you're like me, lots and lots of times.

That's the insight behind the Ad Council's Generous Nation campaign that launched this morning.  America is the most generous society in the world.  And when our hearts are touched -- as they were by the images we saw after the Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina -- we give and volunteer even more.  How, we pondered, after the hurricane images faded from the news could we continue to turn people's best intentions into action day in, day out?

The answer came (pro bono of course) from a legendary advertising team lead by Phil Dusenberry who headed creative at BBDO for over 25 years.  He went to his longtime colleagues Ted Sann and Charlie Meismer.  When they read our brief, they created a poignant campaign to turn "Almost Givers" into "Givers".  The TV spots show people in need and the voice over talks about the people who almost helped.  But they didn't.  The spots end with the line "Don't Almost Give. Give." and feature the website www.DontAlmostGive.org.  The website was designed pro bono by Tribal DDB.  Go to the website and view the ads -- and find out about giving while you're at it!

The website is a portal that allows visitors to select issues they are passionate about and find non profit organizations that address these issues.  It also allows people to search by zip code tens of thousands of non profits to donate or volunteer in their community utilizing links to three major web aggregators.

While the Ad Council has been around for over six decades, this is the first time we know of that it has funded all the "out of pocket" costs associated with a campaign.  Usually the non profit whose logo is on the PSA pays for them.  But we felt that this was bigger than one organization and wanted to benefit the entire non profit community.  Our hope is that by stimulating giving, all boats will rise.

The Generous Nation campaign reminds me that our founding fathers called the Ad Council "Advertising Gift to America."  So true.

Penetrating Popular Culture

A new survey we just conducted reveals that 54 percent of 18 to 24 year olds know that Taylor Hicks is the most recent winner of "American Idol," 41 percent know that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie named their baby Shiloh but only 14 percent are aware that a single blood donation can save three lives.

Blood drives are part of the Ad Council's roots.  Our WWII campaign with the American Red Cross created a whole generation of blood donors.  However, today the average age of a blood donor is over 50.  This new campaign is intended to increase young people's awareness of the importance of giving blood.

The Bloodsaves campaign was created by JJ Sedelmaier of Saturday Night Live fame.  In it, an animated superhero, "The Red Defender," saves the world but encounters humorous problems in the process.  The message:  Saving the world isn't easy but saving a life is.  Give blood.

This strategy comes out of the insight that young people are motivated to save the world but find that huge social issues are complicated.  Giving blood is an easy way to save lives.

Using a hip comic book style will allow us to penetrate the illusive youth popular culture.  The ads work well on television and the Internet.  The first round of work launched in 2005 and promoted a new website, www.bloodsaves.com, which has received over 2.6 million unique visitors.  No doubt that number will continue to climb with the new spots.

It's fun to use new tools and media to do an age old job -- create a generation of blood donors.

Some Get It. Some Don't.

I took a summer Friday last week and played golf with two longtime friends from the business who run a group of the leading ad business publications.  Even though we see each other from time to time throughout the year, this is our chance to catch up over a four hour round and lunch.

During the particularly spectacular summer day, we caught up on our own lives as well as discussing mutual friends and business associates.  Over the course of 15 years doing business in the same circles, we know a lot of the same people.

As we compared notes on these folks the comments ranged from "she's doing so great" and "his golf game is superb".  And as the question came up "what do they do for the Ad Council" my answers ranged from "spectacular" to "not one blessed thing".  The former answer was, happily, in the majority.  I was able to sing the praises of friends and supporters from trade associations like TVB, OAAA, NAB and NCTA.  Media companies like Turner Networks, Clear Channel and the NY Times.  And the agency partners like McCann, Ogilvy, BBDO and on and on.  The list of friends who go well out of their way to support our campaigns and their lifesaving messages was a long one and lasted through several bogies, double bogies (mine) and even a good number of pars.

But even I was startled at my answer -- and their response -- when the answer to what kind of support certain folks gave was a negative one.  "Gee, he/she seems like such a caring person," was their reaction.  I thought, yeah, they are.  So I wondered what was the missing link?  How is it that some people will go to incredible lengths to support important messages that help others?  Does it mean that those who do are somehow better people?

The only answer that I could come up with is "Some people get it.  Some don't."

Everyone's An Expert

It was exciting sitting with the legendary Jack Valenti in front of the Senate Commerce Committee Thursday presenting our new campaign to teach parents that they can block age-inappropriate television content.  We are very proud of our partnership with virtually all television organizations on this campaign.  And Jack deserves tremendous credit for brokering this unprecedented collaboration among otherwise warring industries.

The campaign, which depicts parents speaking with characters from TV shows that are not suitable for young children, was the creation of McCann Erickson New York.

As with all Ad Council campaigns, the creative was rigorously tested with focus groups, and parents reported that they understood the message -- you can block programming you don't want your children to see.  Furthermore, they founds the ads funny and were motivated to go to the website, http://www.thetvboss.org/, to learn how to activate blocking technologies.

Overall, the press surrounding the creative was positive, including a story Tuesday in The Washington Post.  But it never ceases to amaze me how some reporters, fortunately just a few so far, found "experts" to criticize the creative.  (Funny how often these are college professors.)  Those who didn't like the creative felt the parents wouldn't "get it" and that the campaign should be a demonstration of the technology.

Of course, these critics didn't do any research.  And I feel it's rather condescending that they find subtlety lost on today's parents.  Plus, the TV industry has been running demonstration ads for over two years and parents still report that they don't know about the blocking technology.

But this smart creative, which parents do get, is being backed by $300 million of TV time by all broadcast, cable and satellite providers.  So I think we have an excellent chance to "move the needle" on parents' involvement in managing their children's television viewing experience.

I can't wait to report the tracking results on this new campaign.  Not only will it prove the critics wrong, more importantly, it will mean parents have taken control!