American Red Cross (1945-1996)

Sponsor: American Red Cross
Volunteer Agency: J. Walter Thompson

For more than 50 years, the American Red Cross worked with the Ad Council on public service advertising campaigns that raised public awareness of the various services provided by the Red Cross. The PSAs helped to recruit blood donors, enlist volunteers, enroll individuals in health and safety courses, and raise funds.

Most importantly, these campaigns produced dramatic results. In 1990, the  Red Cross focused its recruitment campaign efforts on young adults. In just one month, the PSAs helped to recruit 30,000 Red Cross volunteers, and, by the end of 1991, young adult involvement in the Red Cross had increased by 37%. In 1986, the Ad Council and the Red Cross, the world's largest supplier of blood and blood products, partnered to launch a campaign to dispel rumors about AIDS transmission.

In addition to helping to recruit volunteers, the Red Cross PSA campaign  helped to raise millions of dollars for disaster relief, including funds for victims   of Hurricane Agnes in 1972 and for the victims of the African famine in 1985. In fact, the relief campaign for the African famine reached its initial goal of $5 million within a few weeks, finally totaling more than $20 million.

Through the years, many celebrities appeared in Red Cross PSAs, including: Lucille Ball, Johnny Carson, Glenn Close, Bill Cosby, Robert DeNiro, Michael Douglas, Bob Hope, Meryl Streep, and Dionne Warwick among others.

Following the tragedies of September 11th, the Ad Council reached out to the Red Cross, among other non-profit organizations and government agencies, with an offer to create and also distribute their crisis-related messages. Though the American Red Cross campaign ended years earlier, the Ad Council and the Red Cross worked together once again to help Americans recover during a time of crisis.

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