Leith El-Hassan
Posts by Leith
It’s Movember..
Co-written by Leith El-Hassan and Kyle Johnson/Ad Council (photo 1 and 3)
If you don’t already know, it’s Movember, the month formerly known as November, which is dedicated to growing moustaches and raising awareness and funds for men’s health. And if you haven’t noticed, a few of the men at the company have joined the movement and will be donating their upper lip to the cause for 30 days. Our moustache’s (Mo’s) will spark conversations, and no doubt generate some laughs; all in the name of raising vital awareness and funds for cancers affecting men.
Why are we so passionate about men’s health?
- 1 in 6 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime.
- A man is diagnosed with prostate cancer every 2.2 minutes.
- 1 in 2 men will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime.
- 24% of men are less likely to go the doctor compared to women.
See the website to see how you can participate: http://us.movember.com/
Filed under: fundraising
Tags: fundraising, Movember, Prostate Cancer
On the Road to Singularity
If content is the cheese how do you strategically place your messaging throughout the maze? The assumption being that you can’t reach all of the potential audience through one corridor as consumers are coming from all directions and they may miss your message if you don’t account for all the means of passage.
Today there are about 8 distinct media platforms namely; Internet, Direct, Magazines, Newspapers, Outdoor, Radio, TV and those that refuse to fit neatly are often referred to as Alternative. Each platform can be further divided by the content they provide and who they are consumed by. It is hard to think that any of these areas will completely fade away because they all have an audience which depends and(or) spends on them. But the distinction between them is becoming less and less relevant when taken from the point of view of how they are accessed. You can listen to music on TV station websites, read news on radio sites and watch and listen to content on newspaper and magazine websites. Outdoor, the granddaddy of advertising media vehicles, is also being re-imagined through the introduction of augmented reality with its ability to add an additional dimension to what our meager senses provide and also the enhanced interactivity digital boards and NFC (near field communications) provide.
Google, Apple and nearly every TV manufacturer already have products out which promise to transform your living room TV into a multiplatform juggernaut You can have nearly everything mentioned above in addition to email, text, instant messaging, voice calling and even video chat on your phone, computer, tablet and now your TV. Everything everywhere! But where is this convergence and evolution taking us?
Filed under: Media
Tags: media platforms, raymond kurzweil
School of Hard Knocks – Youth Sports Injury

After reading Ryan’s, my colleague’s, blog about “What Every Parent Needs to Know” I felt compelled to explore the persistence of injuries and violence in sports. Let me start at the beginning:
Where the problem festers
As I made forward progress through the arena of my high school it was common to be assaulted with barbaric and mundane taunts from underclassmen, those older than me and a few that could actual do me harm or read. The common recessive trait? Each bore the mark of the biblical Able and therefore were the favored and dutiful slaves of the overly slowly played game of American Football. To complete the analogy, I on the other hand preferred to focus my talents and energy towards the pulsating and continuous improvisational game of futbol, ah soccer.
Our shorts where mocked, our testosterone levels questioned and above all we were painted as less heroic and somehow not dissimilar to our sisters. All of this was immediately forgiven as our brethren were simply Manchurian candidates elected to continue the preposterous defense for the superiority of American games. Because regardless of which sport you played you knew that American sports were tougher, required more guts and were played by “men”. The fact that some NFL players have been known to take part in Ballet companies during the offseason should be of no consequence. That fact that fascists and communists created and refined ballet should also have no bearing on this discussion.
Filed under: Communications
Tags: NFL, Sports Injuries, Youth Sports


As Vice President of Media Marketing & Distribution Services, Leith is responsible for securing donated support for Ad Council’s non-profit sponsors and government agencies as well as understanding and meeting the needs of both National and Local media outlets. In addition, Leith is Ad Council’s liaison for the Media Industry Trade Associations where he helps leverage each industries unique strengths to further the reach of our clients campaigns.
Before joining the Ad Council Leith spent 6 years working for Media Planning & Commercial Advertising companies (Carat North America and Bates World Wide) here in NYC where he worked on Automotive, Pharmaceutical & Packaged Goods accounts.