Advertising Council, the

The Advertising Council, or the Ad Council, as it is more commonly known, is a private, nonprofit organization best known for its public service announcements aimed at raising awareness of and provoking action on public issues. Formed in 1941 in response to World War II, the Ad Council has taken on many major issues over the years.

Each year, the group selects 40 issues to address through communication programs that reach out to Americans through a variety of media outlets. Campaigns created by the Ad Council must be noncommercial, nondenominational, and nonpolitical. Further, campaigns must be significant, national in scope. and applicable to all Americans. The campaigns are developed free by top advertising agencies, and they are seen by millions through donated media time and space. Many of these campaigns target children's issues, and in 1995 the group made a 10-year commitment to campaigns that speak to America's children, calling it “Commitment 2000.” A majority (80%) of the Ad Council's efforts are now dedicated to helping children.

Some of the Ad Council's most memorable campaigns are now icons for millions of Americans, their slogans easily recognizable. In 1944, Smokey the Bear emerged with the slogan “Only you can prevent forest fires.” The campaign significantly reduced the acreage lost each year to forest fires. McGruff the Crime Dog surfaced in 1979 and continues to teach children and adults to “take a bite out of crime,” asking everyone to take an active role in crime prevention. The Ad Council's campaign for the United Negro College Fund has raised almost $2 billion since 1972 with its “A mind is a terrible thing to waste” campaign. The fund has helped more than 300,000 minority students go to college. And the Crash Test Dummies, introduced in 1985, have significantly increased seat belt usage in the United States. Current child-related issues include adoption, after-school program participation, arts education, safety belt and booster seat education, breastfeeding awareness, bullying prevention, child asthma attack prevention, childhood cancer, drug prevention, early childhood development, high school dropout prevention, math and science for girls, mentoring, modeling nonviolent behavior, parental involvement in schools, second-hand smoke and kids, youth civic engagement, and youth volunteerism, among others.

[Page 62]In addition to its public service campaigns, the Ad Council also conducts research. In the late 1990s, the group released two studies tracking adults' attitudes toward children. In 2000, it released a manual to help nonprofit organizations interest young people in community service. The publication, Engaging the Next Generation: How Nonprofits Can Reach Young Adults, was produced in cooperation with two of its partners, the Pew Charitable Trust and MTV. And in 2004, the Ad Council released a report using results of a public opinion poll to make recommendations on how to engage the public to act on the behalf of children (Turning Point: Engaging the Public on Behalf of Children).