Ad Council Marks 70th, Launches 'Riveting' Facebook Campaign
February 18 will mark the 70th anniversary of the Advertising Council. To mark the occasion, the non-profit launched a new Facebook app: Rosify Yourself, which enables users to insert a face photo into the iconic "Rosie the Riveter," ad "thus becoming riveters for social change." (The Ad Council launched in 1942, during World War II, and the "Rosie the Riveter" campaign was one of its first.) Each year agencies donate their time to create and place ads, and media donate inventory valued at $1.4 billion (in 2012) to distribute campaigns designed to improve society.
Recapping some its results over the past 70 years, the Ad Council released the following performance metrics:
- More than 13,000 children who were once photo listed on www.adoptuskids.org have been placed with permanent families;
- Littering has been reduced by over 88 percent;
- More than $2.2 billion has been raised to help 400,000 minority students graduate from college;
- The number of acres lost annually to wildfire has decreased from 22 million to an average of 6.5 million;
- 70 percent of Americans say that they have personally stopped someone who had been drinking from driving; and
- Seat belt use has increased from 14 percent to 85 percent, saving more than 260,000 lives.
Ad Council Marks 70th, Launches 'Riveting' Facebook Campaign Ad Council Turns 70 With 'Rosify' App (B&C)