Hollywood Helps the Ad Council Make the World a Better Place

Silence The Wolf of Wall Street Babel Argo Brokeback Mountain and now lung cancer prevention have one thing in common Academy Awardwinning cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto amp160He39s the director of the Ad Council39s recent public service advertisement to educate Americans at risk amp160It39s 25 seconds of storytelling at its most engaging tapping Prieto39s passion for changeAnother Hollywood personality who knows something about character development amp160pro wrestler and movie actor John Cena is now starring in the Ad Council39s quotLove Has No Labelsquot campaign amp160In a sequel to the initial Emmywinning PSA Cena strolls through an allAmerican small townamp160and looking directly into the camera urges us to quotlove beyond age disability sexuality race religionamp160and any other labelsquotThe celebrity39s appearance and Prieto39s directing are the kinds of partnerships between Hollywood and the Ad Council that go back to the very beginning of the organizationamp160during World War II when its war bonds campaign featured stars like Bob Hope and Humphrey Bogartamp160 Before television the actors appeared in films and radio encouraging Americans to quothelp keep prices downquot and quotbuy an extra bondquotamp160 When the war was over the Ad Council began to focus on civilian themesamp160and built on its relationship with Hollywood to highlight and influence important issuesamp160Smokey Bear was born in 1944 and his wildfire prevention message continues todayamp160 Over the years Hollywood icons have put their mark on the campaign with Bambi making an appearanceamp160and Rod Serling giving the message his Twilight Zone treatmentamp160 Since 2011 actor Sam Elliott has been the voice of Smokey reminding everyone that quotOnly you can prevent wildfiresquot in that Western wideopen spaces cowboy way that makes us all listenWhich is exactly the point quotJust like weamp8217ve seen with movies and TV shows advertising that works is advertising that tells a good storyquot says Ad Council President and CEO Lisa Sherman quotSo itamp8217s no surprise that for 75 years some of our most impactful campaigns have been in partnership with Hollywood stars both in front of and behind the cameraquotThe Ad Council mission is to power the pro bono efforts of the media advertising and communication industries in order to address the most pressing social issues facing our country amp160In the same way that Hollywood casts the right actors in the right roles to sell movies and make us believe the agencies and creatives that partner with the Ad Council cast the right Hollywood talent to engage us and make us take action amp160So along with Sam Elliott giving voice to Smokey Bear Halle Berry is featured in the MLK Memorial Foundation PSAamp160and Ariel from The Little Mermaid is in the Ocean Awareness campaignThat star power and casting worksamp160 It39s crucial to making changeamp160 That quotLove Has No Labelsquot campaign with John Cena has captured more than 80 million views of the video alone and American attitudes toward bias though with still a long way to go have improved since the campaign launched in 2015 amp160And those Hollywood icons who support wildfire preventionamp160 In the first 60 years of the Smokey Bear campaign loss of forest land from fire was reduced by two thirdsScores of Hollywood bold face names have committed themselves to some of the most important causes tackled by the Ad Council amp160In addition to wildfire prevention and antidiscrimination campaigns on health have attracted some of Hollywood39s bestknown personalities Bob Hope helped promote high blood pressure monitoring and treatment Sharon Stone Penny Marshall and Patrick Dempsey have been featured in the American Stroke Association campaigns and Elizabeth Banks lentamp160her voice to American Heart Association39s quotGo Red For Womenquot movement amp160In the 1980s megastars Meryl Streep and Robert De Niro among others were featured in the Ad Council Red Cross AIDS Campaignamp160while Muppet megastarsamp160Cookie Monster and Elmoamp160promoted healthy eating habitsamp160One of the bestknown Ad Council campaigns amp160for the United Negro College Fund amp160featured appearances by Laurence Fishburne and Samuel L Jackson with several spots directed by Spike Leeamp160 But when it comes to Ad Council spots with big name directors Spike Lee and Rodrigo Prieto aren39t alone amp160Sydney Pollack directed for the MLK Memorial Foundation campaign Joel Schumacher for the New Yorkamp160Teacher Recruitment PSAsamp160and documentary director Liz Garbus for the Healthy Start campaignamp160Leveraging Hollywood voices makes memorable Ad Council projects and like Sam Elliott many of them are unmistakableamp160 Known as quotHollywood39s voice of Godquot Morgan Freeman narrates the Save the Children quotMentor a Childquot campaignamp160 Jason Alexander is quotSeemore Smokequot the animated smoke detector in the quotFor a Safer Americaquot series which also featured Gilbert Gottfriedamp160 Jodie Foster voiced for the National Cancer Foundation PSA while Alecamp160Baldwin put down a track for Americans for the Artsamp160amp160 Who wouldn39t recognize Tom Selleck doing a voiceover for the Fatherhood Initiative PSAsamp160or Jeanine Garafolo for the Library of Congress spotsamp160Further since James Earl Jones spoke the wordsamp160quotA mind is a terrible thing to wastequot decades ago people have been taking out their checkbooks and making donations to the United Negro College Fund amp160Together Hollywood and the Ad Council are making a differenceClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Hollywood Helps the Ad Council Make the World a Better Place

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Miles Hankin

"About That with Carl Mayer": Involved Media Connected Audience Fall 2024 Report (Episode 5) - By Carl Mayer

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Hollywood Helps the Ad Council Make the World a Better Place

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Miles Hankin

"About That with Carl Mayer": Involved Media Connected Audience Fall 2024 Report (Episode 5) - By Carl Mayer

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