Campaign: Join The Fight
Winner: Cable Positive & Kismet Films
For over 25 years, AIDS has been a major health crisis, and still there is no cure in sight. To reactivate viewer awareness about the disease and "join the fight" against
HIV/AIDS, Cable Positive, the cable industry's AIDS action organization, teamed up with Kismet Films, to film a series of PSAs.
Join the Fight
With acclaimed actor Liev Schreiber directing the English-language PSAs and Rosie Perez directing the Spanish versions, the "Join the Fight" campaign used celebrities to engage
viewers and ask them why this disease is important to them on a personal level.
Among the celebrities used in the English spots directed by Schreiber were actresses Naomi Watts, Lorraine Bracco and Judith Light, and designer Calvin Klein. For the Spanish-
language PSAs directed by Perez, some of the participating celebrities were actor Wilmer Valderrama and Miss Universe 2007 Zuleyka Rivera. All the spots were filmed in color
against a white background. The campaign was launched in 2006 and it is running to the end of 2007.
Cause and Effect
The results were the following:
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Cable Positive's Web site generated over two million hits;
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The spots were picked up by cable systems across the country; and,
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The "Join the Fight" campaign received an estimated $1 million in donated air time.
According to Max Johnson, communications associate for Cable Positive, "The celebrity can be a powerful ally in disseminating messages to a large target audience."
Honorable Mentions
Fleishman-Hillard, National Fire Protection Association: Danger of Consumer Fireworks--To publicize the danger of fireworks, the team personalized the risk by telling the story
of a family that lost a child to fireworks. By humanizing their study, they prompted concern despite fireworks' "fun" connotations.
Country Music Television: The Power of One--A grassroots campaign to encourage volunteering across the country, CMT's "Power of One" was publicized through programming and a
Web site, successfully securing more support for their initiative.
CDC, National Center for Injury Prevention & Control: Choose Respect Initiative--The team focused on teaching children about violence in relationships through PSAs,
lessening the chance of unhealthy relationships in their futures.