Stay Healthy During the Flu Season

Protect Yourself and Help Prevent the Spread of the H1N1 Flu with Vaccination and Healthy Habits

This is one of the most serious flu seasons that this country has faced in generations. Not only are we dealing with the seasonal flu—which causes about 36,000 deaths and 200,000 hospitalizations every year—but we are also facing the new 2009 H1N1 flu virus. The H1N1 flu virus is contagious and spreads person-to-person the same way that seasonal influenza does. The virus has quickly spread worldwide and in June 2009 the World Health Organization declared a global H1N1 flu epidemic.

Children, young adults under 25, pregnant women and adults 25-64 with underlying health conditions, like asthma, are more susceptible to falling ill to the H1N1 flu and are at higher risk for serious medical complications, including hospitalization and death. To date millions of Americans people have gotten the H1N1 flu virus and more than 600 have died since the spring from HINI flu-related complications; including children and pregnant women.

In response to this uncertain flu season, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has partnered with the Ad Council to launch a new series of public service advertisements to inform all Americans about the steps they can take to prevent the flu. The campaign, created pro bono by Merkley and Partners will focus on flu prevention, including vaccination, and is targeted towards the general public and Hispanic communities. Additionally, PSAs will specifically be created for pregnant women, parents of children under 18, young adults and kids. Prevention PSAs will focus on simple ways to stay healthy—properly wash your hands, avoid touching your mouth, eyes and nose, sneeze into the bend of your arm, and stay home if you're feeling sick. Vaccination PSAs will encourage audiences to get vaccinated and will reassure them that vaccination is safe and effective.

Please support this campaign by getting vaccinated and practicing healthy habits to prevent the spread of the H1N1 flu virus. Get the facts at flu.gov.

New Campaign Encourages Pet Adoption from Shelters

The Shelter Pet Project: First Ad Council Campaign Focusing on Pets

Eight million pets enter America's shelters each year, and of those, three million healthy, treatable animals are euthanized because no one adopts them.

Those figures come from The Humane Society of the United States and Maddie's Fund, and they've joined with the Ad Council in The Shelter Pet Project, a new campaign designed to promote adopting pets from shelters. The Shelter Pet Project brings together the country's largest animal welfare organizations and shelters from all across the country to change the public's perception of shelter pets and encourage those looking to get a pet to make shelters their first choice for acquiring companion animals.

The humorous PSAs, created pro bono by Draftfcb Chicago, feature stories of how pets come into shelters through no fault of their own, but due to owners' issues, such as divorce, financial difficulty and ill-prepared owners. The TV, radio, print, outdoor and web ads direct audiences to visit a new comprehensive website, www.theshelterpetproject.org, to find out more information about how to adopt a pet from a shelter. The website includes a "Pet Personals" section, a matchmaking tool where users are asked questions about themselves and are then matched through the Petfinder.com database with potential pets from a local shelter or rescue group that will match their lifestyle.

In addition to the new PSAs and website, The Shelter Pet Project also has Facebook, Myspace and Twitter pages. We encourage you to become a "fan" and take a pledge to adopt a pet on Facebook, join our group on MySpace and sign up on Twitter to receive tweets about adoptable shelter pets.

Educating Americans about Hands-Only_™ CPR

Every day, nearly 800 Americans suffer sudden cardiac arrest outside of hospitals, according to the American Heart Association, and less than 10% will survive to hospital discharge. However, studies show that providing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to an adult who has collapsed from a sudden cardiac arrest can more than double or triple that person's chance of survival. Unfortunately, less than one-third of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest victims receive that help.

The Ad Council and the American Heart Association launched a national multimedia PSA campaign in October to encourage bystanders to use Hands-Only_™ CPR when an adult collapses and is unresponsive. Hands-Only_™ CPR, or CPR without mouth-to-mouth breathing, is a two-step technique that involves calling 9-1-1 and pushing hard and fast in the center of the chest until professional help arrives.

Forty-four percent of adults say they would not perform CPR because they're not confident in their ability, according to a national American Heart Association survey conducted in 2008. Consumer research also shows that people often hesitate because they're not comfortable with giving mouth-to-mouth CPR.

The Hands-Only_™ CPR campaign hopes to reach all adults, particularly women age 55 years and older who are most likely to be the spouses of potential victims. Created pro bono by ad agency Gotham Inc., the campaign includes television, radio, print, outdoor and web PSAs. The ads depict the power of hands to help save a life and direct audiences to visit www.HandsOnlyCPR.org, where they can gain access to information and resources on the technique, including an instructional video.

The site also includes an online tool, "Hands Symphony," where visitors can use their "hands" to create original music. Users can choose from a host of sounds created by different filmed hands to create their own track and send it to their friends, encouraging them to create their own tracks, or add on to other friends' tracks. Visitors to the website can also download an instructional iPhone application that teaches the technique.

Please support this new campaign and help educate and empower more Americans to take action when they see someone in cardiac arrest. These new PSAs and online resources have the potential to save many lives.

New PSA s and Online Tools Help Americans Manage Their Diabetes

There are nearly 24 million children and adults in the U.S. currently living with diabetes and that population is growing at epidemic proportions, according to the American Diabetes Association. One new case is diagnosed every 20 seconds in our country, and the disease and its complications kill one American every seven minutes. While those with diabetes are generally aware of complications associated with the disease, many are not aware of their true risk for certain deadly diabetes-related complications, such as heart attack and stroke.

The American Diabetes Association and the Ad Council, working with the National Council of La Raza and the American Association of Diabetes Educators, launched a new series of national PSAs and online tools in September to raise awareness of the risks of uncontrolled diabetes and help those Americans with diabetes take the first steps toward staying healthy.

The campaign aims to reach all Americans who have diabetes, with a particular emphasis on African Americans and Hispanic Americans because of their increased risks for the disease. Created pro bono by McCann Erickson and its McCann HumanCare unit in New York, the campaign includes new English and Spanishlanguage TV, radio and Web PSAs, as well as Spanish print and English-language outdoor PSAs. The ads are an extension of a national multimedia campaign, which first launched in 2007.

The PSAs illustrate how serious complications of diabetes can arise suddenly and without warning, and encourage those with diabetes to proactively engage their health care providers in a conversation about understanding and managing their risk factors.

The ads direct audiences to two new websites, www.diabetesactnow.org and www.diabetesactuaya.org, which give adults with type 1 or type 2 diabetes friendly, supportive places to get simple answers and learn easy actions to help reduce or prevent complications such as heart attack and stroke. Each site features a diabetes healthcare professional who explains why people with diabetes need to know their ABCs (A1C, blood pressure, cholesterol) and includes a library of videos designed to help users make easy lifestyle changes to improve their diabetes numbers. The English site features a personal dashboard where users can track their progress and select action plans. The Spanish-language materials also include a toll-free number (800-533-9623) to learn more about how to effectively manage diabetes and a brochure that addresses the dangers of heart attack and stroke.

Please continue to support this critical campaign, which provides Americans who have diabetes with the resources they need to stay healthy.

Characters from Where the Wild Things Are Help Prevent Childhood Obesity

The Ad Council and the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services launched new PSAs on behalf of their Childhood Obesity Prevention campaign in September to encourage kids ages 6-11 to be physically active every day. In the new ads, characters from the feature film Where the Wild Things Are urge children to explore, discover, run, jump and howl—reminding kids that playing every day is an important part of being healthy and active.

The TV spots feature beautiful scenes with the film's young hero, Max, and the Wild Things as they play throughout their forest home. The scenes demonstrate to kids the importance of being physically active and all the fun they can have doing it. The ads close with a challenge to kids, "The Wild is Out There, Did You Play Today?" Children and families are encouraged to visit www.smallstep.gov, where they can find play ideas and information on healthy eating and physical activity.

"Did you play" PSAs are available for TV, radio, print, outdoor and online.

Be Involved with Your Community

It takes everyone in the community working together to create a brighter future. Through the work of the 1,300 local United Ways across the country, United Way is working to advance the common good by focusing on education, income and health. These are the building blocks for a good life—a quality education that leads to a stable job, enough income to support a family through retirement, and good health.

The Ad Council, in partnership with United Way Worldwide and NFL Films, has developed a new education-focused TV PSA featuring LaDainian Tomlinson of the San Diego Chargers showing viewers how he lives united. The new PSA is aimed at inspiring and motivating people from all communities to get engaged and become a partner with United Way, in an effort to advance the common good. Viewers are urged to give, advocate, and volunteer by visiting www.liveunited.org to find ways they can make a difference in their communities.

The campaign invites everyone to "LIVE UNITED." Because when we reach out a hand to one, we influence the condition of all. We build the strength of our neighborhoods. We bolster the health of our communities. And we change the lives of those who walk by us every day.

Please help support this campaign by becoming involved with United Way and getting connected with others in your community to create opportunities for a better tomorrow.

November Is National Adoption Month

National Adoption Month is a month set aside to raise awareness about adoption from foster care. Currently 496,000 children are in the foster care system in the United States. Of these, approximately 130,000 are available for adoption. The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services' Administration for Children and Families, AdoptUsKids, and the Ad Council are continuing their award-winning campaign, "You don't have to be perfect, to be a perfect parent." The new PSAs aim to find homes for all children in foster care, with a more focused effort that reaches out to the African American community.

We hope you support this campaign to educate Americans about the importance of adopting children from foster care by airing our Adoption PSAs, not just during National Adoption Month in November, but throughout the year. For more information on adoption, or about becoming an adoptive parent to a child from foster care, please visit www.adoptuskids.org, or call toll-free at 1-888-200-4005.