Ad Council, Environmental Defense Fund and Ogilvy New York Launch New Polar Bears Broadcast and Online PSAs to Combat Global Warming

CONTACT:

Beth Shanley
The Ad Council
212-984-1923
 
Toni Lee
Ogilvy & Mather
212-237-5090
 
Sean Crowley
Environmental Defense Fund
202-572-3331
                  
NEW YORK, September 9, 2008 – The Advertising Council, in partnership with Environmental Defense Fund and Ogilvy New York, today announced the launch of a new series of broadcast and online viral public service announcements (PSAs) designed to urge Americans to take advantage of mass transit, carpooling and biking to combat global warming. Discovery Communications’ new environmentally focused Planet Green channel will air the PSAs, as well as the network’s companion online properties, www.planetgreen.com and www.treehugger.com.
 
Beginning this week, the online viral PSAs will also be posted on popular social networking and video sharing websites, and environmental and consumer blogs. The Ad Council will be distributing the broadcast PSA to TV stations nationwide, with a particular emphasis on major cities with public transit. Additionally, as a result of a partnership with SeeSaw, the world’s most extensive digital out-of-home media network, the PSAs will air on screens in convenient stores, health clubs and on college campuses throughout the country. Per the Ad Council’s model, the PSAs will air in time slots donated by the media.  
 
American households spend more on transportation than on food and that’s especially true when gas prices are high. If every car owner drove 10 fewer miles per week, we would prevent the same amount of global warming-carbon dioxide pollution that is emitted by producing electricity for 8 million homes.
 
“If a picture is worth a thousand words, then these ‘Ride, Don’t Drive’ PSAs are worth a million words showing a clear connection between personal action and climate solutions,” said Andy Darrell, Vice President for Living Cities Program at Environmental Defense Fund. “Americans can make a rare triple play with ‘Ride, Don’t Drive.’ Just leave the car at home a few times a week and you can give a helping hand to a polar bear, your lungs and your family budget.”
 
New data from the government and the American Public Transportation Association shows that the use of public transit has significantly increased in three out of four cities (75% of all U.S. cities). Additionally, Americans drove 53 billion fewer miles during the eight months between November 2007 and June 2008 compared to the same time period the previous year. Finally, during the first quarter of this year, Americans made 88 million more public transit trips than during the first quarter of last year.
 
The new PSAs are part of a national multi-level marketing effort, and convey the urgency that global warming is worsening, but there are steps that all Americans can take to become more active in reducing greenhouse gas pollution that causes global warming. They were created pro bono by Ogilvy New York on behalf of the Ad Council and Environmental Defense Fund’s Global Warming PSA campaign.
 
“We are proud to partner with Environmental Defense Fund on these new PSAs to educate Americans about the simple things they can do to reduce our annual carbon dioxide emissions, such as taking mass transit in their cities,” said Peggy Conlon, President & CEO of the Ad Council. “I’m confident that these compelling videos, developed pro bono by Ogilvy, will make all Americans think about what they can do in their daily lives to make our cities healthier.”
 
Ogilvy asked Joshua Allen Harris, a student at the School of Visual Arts and an internationally renowned street artist, to create the mother polar bear and cub featured in the new videos. The artist gained a reputation for creating various animals, serpents and monsters out of recyclable trash bags. The videos show the trash bags appearing on a New York City street tied to subway grates. When trains pass underground, air rushes up through the grates to inflate the bags and a mother polar bear and cub come to life. As the trains depart, the bears slowly deflate. The videos were directed by Tim Godsell and the band behind the music is Stars of the Lid.
 
The PSAs, available in lengths of 30, 60 and 69 seconds, conclude with the words – “Help save the planet.  Ride, don’t drive.” and directs viewers to www.fightglobalwarming.com, where they can calculate their personal contribution to the climate change crisis, and get a series of simple energy-saving tips.
 
“Catching people’s attention in a city like New York is challenging,” said Jon Wagner, Senior Copy Writer and Dustin Duke, Senior Art Director at Ogilvy New York. “We found this artist and asked him to adapt his work to feature a polar bear and her cub, the icons for global warming. The idea was to create something that would stop people in their tracks and to encourage them to think about the little things they can do every day to help save the planet.”  
 
The “Polar Bears” made their debut alongside a New York City subway station, but through the production of the PSAs the message will reach cities throughout the country. For more information about the campaign, local and national data, and to see the broadcast and online PSAs go to: www.fightglobalwarming.com/polarbear.
 
Ogilvy North America
Ogilvy North America (www.ogilvy.com) is the largest unit of The Ogilvy Group agency network, a subsidiary of WPP Group plc (NASDAQ: WPPGY). It has offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Detroit, Durham, Minneapolis, Denver, and throughout Canada. Ogilvy North America brings together all the capabilities of the Ogilvy network to provide integrated marketing solutions to the agency’s clients. It encompasses Ogilvy & Mather Advertising, OgilvyEntertainment, OgilvyOne, OgilvyInteractive, Neo@Ogilvy, Ogilvy Healthworld, Ogilvy Public Relations and OgilvyAction.
 
Environmental Defense Fund
Environmental Defense Fund, a leading national nonprofit organization, represents more than 500,000 members. Since 1967, Environmental Defense Fund has linked science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships to create breakthrough solutions to the most serious environmental problems. For more information, visit www.edf.org.
 
The Advertising Council
The Ad Council is a private, non-profit organization with a rich history of marshalling volunteer talent from the advertising and media industries to deliver critical messages to the American public. Having produced literally thousands of PSA campaigns addressing the most pressing social issues of the day, the Ad Council has effected, and continues to effect, tremendous positive change by raising awareness, inspiring action, and saving lives. To learn more about the Ad Council and its campaigns, visit www.adcouncil.org.

 

One of the world’s leading international nonprofit organizations, Environmental Defense Fund (edf.org) creates transformational solutions to the most serious environmental problems. To do so, EDF links science, economics, law, and innovative private-sector partnerships. With more than 3 million members and offices in the United States, China, Mexico, Indonesia and the European Union, EDF’s scientists, economists, attorneys and policy experts are working in 28 countries to turn our solutions into action. Connect with us on Twitter @EnvDefenseFund