With more than 50 million kids heading back to school this fall, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children® (NCMEC) and Honeywell (NYSE:HON) are urging parents, guardians and educators to start conversations about safety now. The KidSmartz™ program, a joint effort between NCMEC and Honeywell, is making those conversations easier with new animated videos to help elementary school students understand and remember the “Four Rules of Safety”
“A nine-year analysis by NCMEC of more than 9,000 attempted abductions revealed important patterns, including the fact that many attempts happen on the way to and from school,” said Linda Krieg, NCMEC acting CEO. “Safety is a year-round concern, but the analysis tells us that this time of year is a critical time to prepare our kids for potential dangers. KidSmartz equips teachers and parents with tools they need to help kids make smarter and safer decisions.”
NCMEC’s attempted abduction analysis revealed not only the tricks used by people trying to abduct kids but also the ways kids can get away. KidSmartz, which launched last year as part of more than ten years of partnership between NCMEC and Honeywell, uses classroom activities, role-playing, animated videos and a “Safety Dance” song and dance to teach children in grades K-5 the “Four Rules of Safety.”
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7616251-ncmec-honeywell-kidsmartz-back-to-school/
Allstate Foundation Purple Purse® ambassador Kerry Washington unveiled her latest purse design to bring attention to domestic violence and financial abuse before an audience of community leaders, survivors and VIPs on Sept. 24 in New York City. In so doing, she also kicked off a month-long effort to raise funds for domestic violence programs nationwide.
Golden Globe and Emmy nominated Washington partnered with handbag designer, Dee Ocleppo, to create the 2015 Purple Purse. The limited-edition, on-trend clutch was created to encourage the public to talk about domestic violence and financial abuse. This year, the purple purse, retailing at $350, is available for purchase beginning Sept. 25 at select Saks Fifth Avenue locations and on Saks.com with 25 percent of proceeds supporting abuse programs.
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7616851-allstate-foundation-purple-purse/
Today, GENYOUth announced the launch of Fuel Up to Play 60 en español, an evolution of its national flagship program. The program encourages Spanish-speaking communities nationwide to live healthier lifestyles through good nutrition and physical activity. Fuel Up to Play 60 launched a redesigned website (FuelUpToPlay60.com) that provides Spanish-language content and materials, extending the reach and access of the program to students, teachers and families across the country. Several organizations have supported the effort, including the PepsiCo Foundation, which has provided a previously announced grant of $550,000 to develop Spanish-language materials and resources. In addition the PepsiCo Foundation will provide another $100,000 for mini-grants for health and wellness activities and programming within Los Angeles Unified School District and Miami-Dade County Public Schools.
Fuel Up to Play 60, a program founded by the National Football League (NFL) and National Dairy Council (NDC), is designed to engage and empower youth to take action for their own health by implementing long-term, positive nutrition and physical activity changes for themselves, their schools and their communities. Studies show that physical fitness may benefit brain health and academic performance, suggesting active kids may do better. However, only 1 in 3 kids are active every day, potentially leaving many at a disadvantage inside and outside of the classroom.
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7646551-fuel-up-to-play-60/
In an effort to inform children and their families about the importance of food safety, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Ad Council are joining 20th Century Fox to launch a series of public service advertisements (PSAs) featuring footage from the upcoming film Alvin & the Chipmunks: The Road Chip.
An estimated 1 in 6 (48 million) Americans get sick from foodborne illness each year, resulting in roughly 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Children are among the most vulnerable to food poisoning because their immune systems are still developing, so parents and caregivers need to take extra precautions when preparing food for children under five.
The new PSAs, featuring everyone’s favorite Chipmunks – Alvin, Simon, and Theodore – highlight the four food safety steps consumers can use to prevent foodborne illness. The Chipmunks’ antics and hilarious situations in which they find themselves provide a perfect platform to illustrate these four steps: Clean, Separate, Cook, and Chill. The PSAs help explain actions anyone can take to safely prepare their food, using the Chipmunks as the tool to bring fun and relevancy to a serious topic. The partnership includes TV, radio, out-of-home and web advertising, and parents and children can also find kid-friendly activities that further reinforce the food safety steps by visiting FoodSafety.gov.
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7652251-ad-council-food-safety/
In a groundbreaking effort to empower teens to speak up when they see bullying, the Ad Council and an unprecedented coalition of media, corporate and non-profit partners are launching I Am A Witness, a digital-focused campaign featuring a new eye emoji supported by the Unicode Standard, and is now available on iPhones running iOS 9.1. The emoji will also be featured in the I Am A Witness app, available on the App Store and on Google Play, which offers a downloadable keyboard developed pro bono by Snaps. The emoji, shaped like a speech bubble with an eye in the center, enables teens to take a stand against bullying and show support for someone who is being bullied. The campaign launch coincides with Bullying Prevention Month.
The I Am A Witness campaign was developed pro bono by Goodby Silverstein & Partners in collaboration with Adobe, Apple, Facebook, Google, YouTube, Johnson & Johnson and Twitter. Each partner will be providing significant exposure and customized content on their platforms. The campaign also includes activations on platforms including BuzzFeed, Instagram, Kik, Pandora, Snapchat, Tumblr, Vevo, We Heart It and Whisper. Additionally, non-profit partners have offered their expertise and resources, including The Bully Project, GLSEN, PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center and The Trevor Project.
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7658451-ad-council-anti-bullying-campaign/
The Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, a national nonprofit dedicated to reducing substance abuse among adolescents, today launched a new multimedia campaign for teens that illustrates some of the pressures they face, including peer pressure to drink and use drugs, issues with body image and bullying, among others. The “Who Controls You” campaign breaks this month and was created pro-bono by advertising agency, Hill Holliday and award-winning, social media influencer, Maris Jones, as part of the Partnership’s Above the Influence (ATI) teen program.
“We are incredibly proud of this work. We struck gold when Hill Holliday collaborated with Adolescent Media and Maris Jones to bring this campaign to life,” said Chief Marketing Officer for the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, Kristi Rowe. “Partnering with a young, talented social media influencer like Maris lent such a unique and authentic voice to this effort. Combining the extraordinary insight and passion of the Hill Holliday team with Maris’ distinct artistry brought an unexpected style to the campaign that makes this creative truly break through.”
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7103751-drug-free-partnership-who-controls-you/
As part of their ongoing Stop the Texts. Stop the Wrecks. Texting and Driving Prevention campaign, the Ad Council and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) are partnering with YouTube creator and actress Meg DeAngelis to raise awareness of this dangerous behavior. The collaboration also coincides with the release of new television campaign public service advertisements (PSAs) and the launch of Project Yellow Light, a national video contest and scholarship program that aims to educate young drivers on and generate engagement around this issue.
Meg is joining the effort as part of the Ad Council’s Creators for Good program by distributing new exclusive video content to her almost four million subscribers on YouTube. The video amplifies the campaign message, showing drivers that no matter how “safely” they think they can drive while doing other things, distracted driving is always dangerous. Created as an advice video, Meg runs through “10 Everyday Things You’re Doing Wrong” - from putting in bobby pins to folding your clothes - and ends with a serious message to her fans about the dangers of texting and driving.
“Texting and driving is such a serious issue, so I'm really proud to be a voice of this important campaign,” said DeAngelis. “I want all of my viewers to stay safe, so I hope that together, we can spread the word on the dangers of distracted driving.”
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7682151-ad-council-project-yellow-light/
The period between Christmas and New Year’s typically has one of the highest rates of impaired driving fatalities, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). In an effort to reduce drunk and buzzed driving related incidents during the holidays, NHTSA, the Ad Council and the Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB) launched their 12th annual “Project Roadblock: Local TV Puts the Brakes on Drunk Driving.”
Project Roadblock was created in 2004 in support of NHTSA and the Ad Council’s Buzzed Driving Prevention public service advertising (PSA) campaign. To date, broadcast TV stations across the nation have donated more than $40 million in media to support this effort. The partnership aims to unite local television stations in creating a nationwide advertising roadblock by airing Project Roadblock PSAs (Public Service Announcements) between December 26 and December 31. Local broadcast stations voluntarily participate in the campaign by donating on-air, online and mobile time and space with a special push at 10 p.m. local time on New Year’s Eve. In addition, TV stations will be reaching out to their communities on social media to share social graphics and messaging to further reach audiences.
“Drunk driving remains a serious threat on our roads and claims more than 10,000 lives a year,” said NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind. ”Local broadcast television is an effective tool in reaching consumers, and we thank the TVB, all the stations, and the Ad Council for their ongoing support of drunk driving prevention, especially during the holiday season.”
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7701751-ad-council-nhtsa-buzzed-driving-psa/
Three of the Internet’s most beloved pets are teaming up to help the millions of cats and dogs in shelters and rescue groups across the country find loving homes. Fashion icon Toast Meets World, globally recognized pianist Keyboard Cat and life of the party Hamilton Pug are lending their star power to “Start A Story. Adopt,” a new public service advertising (PSA) campaign from The Shelter Pet Project, a collaborative effort between Maddie’s Fund®, The Humane Society of the United States and the Ad Council.
Toast Meets World, Keyboard Cat and Hamilton Pug receive millions of views, likes and shares on social media, but most people don’t know they were adopted. Created pro bono by J. Walter Thompson New York, these new PSAs share these pets’ unique stories, which all began in shelters and rescue groups, and highlight the special bonds between the pets and their families. Prospective owners are encouraged to visit TheShelterPetProject.org to learn more about the adoption process and search for adoptable pets at shelters and rescue groups near them. Adoption advocates are also encouraged to support the effort on social media by using the hashtag #StartAStoryAdopt to share stories of how their shelter pets changed their lives for the better and to encourage others to start their own stories by adopting an amazing shelter dog or cat today.
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7747051-ad-council-shelter-pets-project/
The Meta “Heart 2 Heart” campaign, created to encourage more family dialogue about heart health, enlisted Emmy award-winning talk show host Michael Strahan to help jumpstart conversations during National Heart Month in February and beyond. Meta, the #1 doctor and pharmacist recommended fiber brand, is proven to help lower cholesterol to promote heart health† when paired with a healthy diet.
In an effort to lead by example and put his professional talk show expertise to use in a fresh way, Strahan invited the cameras in to capture his own personal father-son heart conversation, including practical tips on how to lead a heart-healthy lifestyle. The “Heart 2 Heart” video, now available for viewing on YouTube, will also be featured at this weekend’s Dad 2.0 Summit in Washington D.C., where over 400 influential dad bloggers will discuss the “new normal” of fatherhood. As a father himself, Michael Strahan will speak at the conference alongside Dr. Charles Lambert, Preventative Cardiologist at Florida Hospital, to discuss his role as a dad, the male influences in his life that contributed to his success, and how he maintains a heart-healthy lifestyle amid a growing busy schedule.
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7764251-meta-michael-strahan-heart-2-heart/
Unprecedented planning by state and local authorities, law enforcement and the insurance industry established what is being called a national model for protecting the public from fly-by-night contractors in the aftermath of a natural disaster.
According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), preparation in advance of the F-5 tornado that devastated the city of Moore and surrounding areas in May 2013 resulted in a well-coordinated effort to ensure that roofers and other contractors who swarmed into the area in the hours and days after the storm were properly licensed, insured and authorized to work in the area.
Local police assisted the Oklahoma Insurance Department Fraud Unit in patrolling the area and keeping suspected fraudulent out-of-state contractors from doing work unless all protocols were followed.
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7665251-nicb-limited-fraud-following-2013-moore-tornado/
Millennium Systems International, creators of Millennium and Meevo salon & spa software, have been busy working on a new initiative to showcase the deep connections consumers have with their hairstylists. “It’s so important to bring to light and recognize the deep connections that we have with our hairstylist,” said Millennium’s Marketing Director, Jen Martinelli. “I personally have been through proms, a wedding day, my daughter and son’s first haircut; all with my hair stylist by my side.”
The campaign starts with a grassroots effort by interviewing real people and real experiences in salons. Its purpose is to bring awareness to everyone, everywhere that beauty professionals play a very significant role in all of our lives. Happy moments, sad moments, and even in moments of feeling lost or confused, hairstylists are the consistent rock making us look and feel beautiful, confident, ready to take on the world. “Confidence is everything. It can mean landing a job, or picking up the pieces after a tragedy, or fighting through an illness,” continues Jen Martinelli. “You can’t buy confidence. Beauty professionals everywhere are making our lives more beautiful… in every sense of that word.”
Millennium Systems International has released its first video of the campaign today and it’s promising to be a tearjerker for everyone. One interviewee talks about the comfort she received from her hair stylist, “when my grandson passed away, when he was seven…. and I called her.”
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7753551-millennium-systems-dearhairstylist-campaign/
