The Advertising Council partnered with the National Governors Association to release three public service announcements on educational issues Aug. 8 in time for back-to-school activities.
The TV spots are extensions of national Ad Council campaigns created to prevent students from dropping out of high school, promote early childhood development and encourage participation in after-school programs. The spots, directing viewers to Web sites and toll-free numbers, have local tags from 15 governors.
“What it does is it provides local context,” said Ellyn Fisher, director of corporate communications at the Ad Council, an industry nonprofit in New York. “We find that with all our national campaigns, any localization that we provide increases the relevance of the message to the viewers.”
JWT New York created the “Operation Graduation” spot with sponsorship from the U.S. Army. McCann-Erickson New York was responsible for “Born Learning,” backed by the United Way of America and Civitas. DDB Chicago created “Afterschool Participation,” sponsored by the Afterschool Alliance and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.
Fast Channel is digitally sending the spots to TV stations in participating governors' states like Virginia, Arkansas, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Washington, Idaho, Kentucky, West Virginia, Arizona, Montana, Vermont, Delaware, Indiana, Iowa, Tennessee and Nebraska. Guam also is involved. The spots will air in media time donated by the stations.
