New survey finds that majority of young adults know "American Idol" winner, while only 14% are aware of number of lives saved from blood donation

Leading Blood Groups Continue Successful Bloodsaves Campaign with Launch of Animated Superhero...
"The Red Defender"

JJ Sedelmaier Productions donates talent for new PSAs

NEW YORK, August 22, 2006 - The Advertising Council today joined with AABB, America's Blood Centers and the American Red Cross to launch a new series of public service advertisements (PSAs) on behalf of their Bloodsaves campaign. Bloodsaves, first launched in 2004, is the blood banking community's first national, unbranded public information and education campaign. It is geared towards young adults in an effort to raise awareness about the importance of ongoing blood donation and foster a new generation of lifelong donors. The new ads are being distributed nationwide this week.

According to an Ad Council survey conducted earlier this month, while the majority of 18-24 year olds (54 percent) know that Taylor Hicks is the most recent winner of "American Idol," and four in ten (41 percent) know that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie named their baby Shiloh, only 14 percent of young adults are aware that a single blood donation can save three lives.

Each year, nearly five million people in the U.S. need a life saving blood transfusion and 38,000 units of blood are needed daily in this country, according to the National Blood Data Resource Center. Approximately 60 percent of the U.S. population is eligible to donate blood, but only 5 percent of those who can, do. Almost 20 percent of non-donors cite "never thought about it" as the main reason for not giving. Few people realize that blood has a shelf life of only 42 days or that eligible donors are allowed to give blood every two months (or 56 days). As additional donor restrictions are implemented and the population ages, the country could lose more and more willing donors, which could cause an even greater threat to our national blood supply.

Bloodsaves was developed to capture the attention of young adults, especially 17-24 year olds, to increase awareness of the need for regular blood donation and to set the foundation for lifelong donor behavior. Created pro bono by ad agency Euro RSCG Worldwide New York, the campaign includes television, radio, outdoor and Internet advertising and directs young adults to visit a comprehensive website, www.bloodsaves.com, where they can learn more about the need for a robust blood supply and obtain information and resources to help them donate blood in their community.

The new PSAs build off of the strategic premise of the first round of ads, "Save the World," which featured young adults discussing the extreme lengths they have gone to try to make a difference in the world, while demonstrating that donating blood is an easy way to make a significant impact. However, the new spots utilize a fresh creative approach by introducing an animated superhero, "The Red Defender," to deliver the message.

The ads have a hip comic book feel and showcase not only the superhero's adventures, but also the challenges he faces as he tries to save the world from evil. These efforts are then contrasted with the notion that "saving the world isn't easy, but saving a life is." To view the new PSAs, please visit www.adcouncil.org/default.aspx?id=40. The work was created by famed animator JJ Sedelmaier, well-known for his work on Saturday Night Live's TV Funhouse and cutting-edge commercial animation, such as Speed Racer, Slim Jim, FootJoy, Hotwire, etc.

In addition to the traditional PSAs, the Bloodsaves message will be communicated through a new rich media campaign during the first two weeks of September. Created in partnership with AOL, the campaign will feature "The Red Defender" performing heroic acts and will allow users the opportunity to choose the ending, as a result of rich media technologies provided by Eyeblaster. The campaign will run across all of AOL Network sites and channels, focusing on reaching the campaign's 17-24 year-old target audience. AOL Media Networks and 360 Creative donated creative and production services, as well as significant media, valued at more than $1 million.

Since its launch, the Bloodsaves campaign has reached countless young adults nationwide through traditional print and broadcast media outlets, as well as through the online community and a college-focused grassroots education program executed in Spring 2005. To date, media outlets have donated more than $60 million in advertising time and space for the PSAs. As a result of this support, www.bloodsaves.com has received more than 2.6 million unique visitors. In addition, Ad Council tracking results show that the campaign is resonating with the target audience. Awareness levels have increased significantly since the launch and those who saw at least one of the PSAs were significantly more likely to have donated blood.

"Results of our campaign to date demonstrate remarkable progress in beginning to get the issue of blood donation on the radar screens of a new generation of blood donors," according to Peggy Conlon, president and CEO of The Advertising Council. "We are proud to build on its success with these new fun and engaging PSAs, which I believe will appeal to and motivate our target audience and continue to raise awareness about the importance of lifelong blood donation."

Per the Ad Council model, all of the PSAs are being distributed to more than 28,000 media outlets nationwide this week and will run and air in advertising time and space that is donated by the media.

Sponsor Quotes:

"Every two seconds blood is needed in hospitals and emergency treatment facilities for patients with cancer and other diseases, for organ transplant recipients, and to save the lives of accident and trauma victims," said Karen Shoos Lipton, chief executive officer of AABB. "The new Red Defender creative materials are engaging, and are intended to motivate a new generation of blood donors so that AABB members can continue to ensure that blood is available whenever and wherever it is needed."

"Educating young donors of the importance of regular blood donation in an essential objective for the blood community," said ABC CEO Jim MacPherson. "We hope that the 'Red Defender' will resonate with 17-24 year-olds, inspiring them to become everyday superheroes by making life-saving blood donations."

According to American Red Cross interim president and CEO, Jack McGuire, "The 'Red Defender' creative materials being introduced to the "Blood Saves" Ad Council campaign are a new approach by the leaders of the blood banking community to reach out in a fun and engaging way to the youth of this country… the future of our lifesaving mission of blood donation."

"We wanted the advertising to show young people, who are seeking ways to improve the world we all live in, that giving blood is an easy way to make an incredibly important difference - saving lives," said Ron Berger, CEO and CCO, Euro RSCG New York and San Francisco. "By giving the Red Defender a humanity, and a sense of humor, and pairing it with the impacting blood donation message, we have found an entertaining way to get the issue of blood donation and its importance on young adults' radar screens."

Sponsor Boilerplates

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.

AABB

Established in 1947, AABB (formerly known as the American Association of Blood Banks) is an international, not-for-profit association dedicated to the advancement of science and the practice of transfusion medicine and related biological therapies. The association is committed to improving health by developing and delivering standards, accreditation and educational programs and services that optimize patient and donor care and safety. AABB membership consists of approximately 1,800 institutions and 8,000 individuals, including physicians, scientists, administrators, medical technologists, nurses, researchers, blood donor recruiters and public relations personnel. Members are located in all 50 states and 80 foreign countries.

America's Blood Centers

Founded in 1962, America's Blood Centers is North America's largest network of community-based blood programs. Seventy-eight blood centers operate more than 600 collection sites in 45 U.S. states and Canada, providing half of the US, and all of the Canadian volunteer donor blood supply. These blood centers serve more than 180 million people and provide blood products and services to more than 4,200 hospitals and health care facilities across North America. ABC's U.S. members are licensed and regulated by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. Canadian members are regulated by Health Canada.

American Red Cross

The American Red Cross has helped people mobilize to help their neighbors for 125 years. Last year, victims of a record 72,883 disasters, most of them fires, turned to the nearly 1 million volunteers and 35,000 employees of the Red Cross for help and hope. Through more than 800 locally supported chapters, more than 15 million people each year gain the skills they need to prepare for and respond to emergencies in their homes, communities and world. Almost 4 million people give blood-the gift of life-through the Red Cross, making it the largest supplier of blood and blood products in the United States. The Red Cross helps thousands of U.S. service members separated from their families by military duty stay connected. As part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, a global network of more than 180 national societies, the Red Cross helps restore hope and dignity to the world's most vulnerable people. An average of 91 cents of every dollar the Red Cross spends is invested in humanitarian services and programs. The Red Cross is not a government agency; it relies on donations of time, money, and blood to do its work.

Euro RSCG Worldwide

Euro RSCG Worldwide, a leading integrated marketing communications agency, is made up of 233 offices located in 75 countries throughout Europe, North America, Latin America, and Asia Pacific. Euro RSCG provides advertising, marketing services, corporate communications, and interactive solutions to global, regional, and local clients. The agency's client roster includes Airbus, Air France, BNP Paribas, Capgemini, Charles Schwab, Danone Group, Diageo, IBM, Jaguar, L'Oréal, LVMH Louis Vuitton, PSA Peugeot Citroën,quote Reckitt Benckiser, sanofi-aventis, Schering-Plough, Verizon, and Volvo. Headquartered in New York, Euro RSCG Worldwide is the largest unit of Havas, a world leader in communications (Euronext Paris SA: HAV.PA).

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