The Advertising Council Inc. has begun a national campaign to raise awareness of Wireless AMBER Alerts in partnership with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, the Wireless Foundation and the U.S. Department of Justice.
The multimedia public service ad campaign is the first to address the new technology that encourages wireless subscribers to aid in the search for abducted children. Merkley + Partners, New York, handled the pro bono campaign.
Media include radio, newspapers, outdoor and online advertising, directing parents and adults to visit the site at www.wirelessamberalerts.org and sign up for the alerts. The PSAs will be distributed to 19,000 media outlets and will run in ad space donated by the media.
The AMBER Alert program began in 1997 and has helped reunite more than 260 children with their families.
The wireless initiative was launched in May 2005 to extend the AMBER Alert program by reaching out to the 70 percent of Americans who use wireless devices.
The new campaign aims to educate the public about Wireless AMBER Alerts, inspire cell phone users and other wireless subscribers to register for the alerts and increase the number of people who may be able to help in locating an abducted child.
All wireless subscribers capable of receiving text messages and whose wireless carrier participates in the initiative may choose to receive free alerts. This can be done through the AMBER Alerts site or a wireless carrier’s Web site. Subscribers can designate up to five geographic areas for which they wish to receive Wireless AMBER Alerts.
The Ad Council is a private, nonprofit organization that uses the advertising and media industries to deliver critical messages to the American public.
