Adlibbing: Inside PSAs

Today I’d like to provide some insights into our new America Supports You PSA campaign, which is launching this week.

We developed this campaign for the U.S. Department of Defense, to encourage all Americans to tell our military troops, both domestic and abroad, that they have our support.

Research from the Department of Defense and military sociologists showed us that the morale of our troops is strongly influenced by their awareness that folks back home support them.  The research also showed that – regardless of their stance on the war – most Americans believe it is important to provide support for our troops, but they don’t know how, and feel it would be an overwhelming task.

The objective of our creative was to deliver poignant advertising that would inspire audiences to visit a wonderful website (www.americasupportsyou.mil), which provides an easy mechanism to send messages of thanks and encouragement to the troops and their families. I know you’ll be as inspired and motivated as I was to visit this site. It has already prompted many wonderful and heartfelt acts of kindness to troops and their families.

The America Supports You radio and print advertising was created pro-bono by Devito Verdi in New York (the same ad agency that brought us the memorable “Main Street” spot after the tragedies of 9/11). The agency believed there was no better way to communicate our message than to use words from the troops themselves, and those Americans that have taken meaningful steps to show their support.

The result is incredibly powerful work. The heartfelt words from our servicemen and women, as well as the personal stories of support that are featured in the advertising, are incredibly poignant and motivating. I think they’ll have a significant impact on the American people who will be inspired to provide the emotional support our troops need and deserve.

Hope you enjoy the work!

As I said in my last post, our new Global Warming campaign is generating a lot of discussion.  In fact, several prominent bloggers are discussing our new work ---

Please take a look at Grist Mill, Huffington and ClimateChange and a terrific article in Newsweek about the new PSAs.

Also, spend a few minutes taking the quiz to calculate your personal impact at http://www.fightglobalwarming.com/carboncalculator.cfm. Boy was I surprised when I took the quiz! Good news, my household carbon use was about 1/3 of the average American home. Bad, bad news, when I calculated what my and my husband's air travel contributed, I was now almost 7x the average American household. What am I going to do about that!

Since the launch of the Global Warming campaign last Thursday, we are delighted at the attention and response.  I am thrilled that so many people visited my very first blog (not counting the introductory one) and that we have the beginning of a great dialogue.  News coverage was very respectable and, while not completely favorable, largely favorable.

So I invite you to join in the debate.  Is the planet warming?  Do human activities contribute to greenhouse gas emissions?  Can individuals make a difference?

We think so.

Global Warming

  The Ad Council campaign on global warming launched today in partnership with Environmental Defense with the objective to give Americans an emotional connection to global warming and a sense of urgency to personally take actions to reduce green house gas emissions.

Our research revealed that while Americans are aware of global warming, they don't think its consequences will affect them in their lifetime. They also don't believe they can personally do anything about it. To break through the cluttered media environment, the creative is powerful and compelling. I invite you to view the television spots Tick and Train that were created pro bono by Ogilvy New York. Other campaign elements can be seen on www.adcouncil.org.

Consumers exposed to these PSA report they are motivated to act. So the call to action is to visit www.fightglobalwarming.com and learn what you can personally do to stop global warming. Actions can be a s simple as utilizing energy saving light bulbs and turning down the thermostat in the winter to purchasing energy efficient appliances and fuel efficient cars. The website also helps people understand how their personal action can have significant impact. For example, if every family in America replaced their three most used light bulbs with a compact fluorescent, that would be like taking 3 1/2 million cars off the road.

While global warming is often politicized, this campaign is non political. It is not designed to influence policy or legislation but to give Americans things they can personally do to address this critical environmental issue. And just as our messages over the years have reduced littering and encouraged recycling, increased seat belt use and reduced drunk driving. I know this campaign will mobilize people to do their part to stop global warming.

Welcome to our Blog

We've started this blog to broaden the reach of our public service campaigns and give you new insight into how we raise awareness for critical social issues. And, we hope that you'll join us in taking our public service campaigns to the next level -- discussion.

We'll update the blog periodically, focusing on new and existing campaigns that the Ad Council produced. You'll find our thoughts behind the campaign, relevant links for action, and we'll also follow the discussions that the world is having in response to our PSAs. So, check back often for updates (you can even subscribe to our RSS feed), and help us start meaningful dialogue on these critical social issues.

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