26 1942 ; 74 years ago 1942 02 26 1 tax id no. 13 0417693 2 legal status 501 c 3 nonprofit organization headquarters 815 second avenue new york new york 10017 2 coordinates 40 45 04 n 73 58 19 w 40.7509767 n 73.9718453 w 40.7509767 ; 73.9718453 coordinates 40 45 04 n 73 58 19 w 40.7509767 n 73.9718453 w 40.7509767 ; 73.9718453 area served united states products public service announcements 2 chairman david christopher 3 president chief financial officer lisa sherman 4 revenue 2014 44 571 027 2 expenses 2014 42 528 600 2 employees 2013 153 2 volunteers 2013 291 2 mission to identify a select number of significant public issues and stimulate action on those issues through communications programs that make a measurable difference in our society . 2 website www.adcouncil.org formerly called the war advertising council inc. the advertising council commonly known as the ad council is an american non profit organization that produces distributes and promotes public service announcements on behalf of various sponsors including non profit organizations non governmental organizations and agencies of the united states government . 5 the ad council partners with advertising agencies who work pro bono to create the public service advertisements on behalf of their campaigns . the organization accepts requests from sponsor institutions for advertising campaigns that focus on particular social issues . to qualify an issue must be non partisan though not necessarily unbiased and have national relevance . the ad council distributes the advertisements to a network of 33 000 6 media outlets including broadcast print outdoor i.e. billboards bus stops and internet who run the ads in donated time and space . media outlets donate approximately 1.8 billion to ad council campaigns annually . 7 if paid for this amount would make the ad council one of the largest advertisers in the country . 8 contents 1 history 2 famous campaigns 3 organizations with campaigns done by the ad council 4 partnerships with film production companies 5 criticism 6 notes and references 7 see also 8 external links history edit the organization was conceived in 1941 and it was incorporated as the advertising council inc. on february 26 1942 1 on june 25 1943 it was renamed the war advertising council inc. 1 for the purpose of mobilizing the advertising industry in support of the war effort . early campaigns encouraged enlistment to the military the purchase of war bonds and conservation of war materials . 9 10 before the conclusion of world war ii president franklin d. roosevelt requested that the ad council continue its work during peacetime . 11 on february 5 1946 the war advertising council officially changed its name back to the advertising council inc. 1 and shifted its focus to issues such as atomic weapons world trade and religious tolerance . 12 in 1945 the ad council began working with the national safety council . 9 since roosevelt every u.s. president has supported the ad council s work . 13 in the 1950s first lady eleanor roosevelt and general dwight d. eisenhower appeared in the ad council s anti communism ads . 14 in the 1980s first lady nancy reagan collaborated with the ad council on the just say no anti drug campaign . 15 the ad council s first president theodore repplier assumed leadership of the organization in 1947 . robert keim succeeded repplier as ad council president from 1966 to 1987 and ruth wooden succeeded keim from 1987 to 1999 when the current president peggy conlon began her tenure . 12 the ad council celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2012 . 16 the ad council released an infographic that demonstrated its impact through the years on issues including safety belts autism litter reduction crime and wildfire prevention . 17 famous campaigns edit people s capitalism was an american propaganda meme popularized in the mid 1950s as a name for the american economic system . it was endorsed by president dwight david eisenhower for worldwide use by the united states information agency which employed the term to trumpet the successful aspects of the american economy worldwide during the cold war . 1 the propagandists depicted the united states as a classless society of prospering workers versus societies of slaves in the soviet union and china . 1 savings bond 1942 1980 the first campaign by the then war advertising council encouraged americans to support the war effort by purchasing war bonds . 18 security of war information loose lips sink ships 1942 1945 the first campaign by the then war advertising council encouraged americans to support the war effort by purchasing war bonds . 18 wildfire prevention 1944 present the ad council s longest running campaign smokey bear and his tagline only you can prevent forest fires was created in 1944 9 to educate americans about the harm wildfires could cause the war effort and the danger that the japanese might deliberately start forest fires by shelling the west coast of the united states . it was 1947 when the iconic smokey bear phrase was finally coined remember ... only you can prevent forest wild fires 19 the forest fire prevention campaign has helped reduce the number of acres lost annually to wildfire from 22 million to 8.4 million in 2000 . 18 american red cross 1945 1996 the ad council psas for the american red cross has recruited blood donors enlisted volunteers and raised funds for the red cross for more than 50 years . 18 polio 1958 1961 psas for the polio vaccine helped get 80 % of the at risk populace fully immunized eradicating the disease in the usa . 18 crying indian 1961 1983 anti pollution campaign for keep america beautiful . the iconic crying indian ad which featured italian american 20 actor iron eyes cody first aired on earth day in 1971 . 18 the campaign helped reduce litter by as much as 88 percent by 1983 5 and won two clio awards . 21 peace corps 1961 1991 psas featuring the tagline the toughest job you ll ever love helped recruit thousands of volunteers to the program . in 1991 30 percent of peace corps volunteers had been reached through the ad council s recruitment campaign . 22 united negro college fund 1972 present campaign with its slogan a mind is a terrible thing to waste has helped raise more than 2.2 billion and helped to graduate more than 400 000 minority students from college or beyond . 9 mcgruff 1979 present campaign with its slogan take a bite out of crime for the national crime prevention council in conjunction with the u.s. department of justice . it was created in 1978 . 9 drunk driving prevention 1983 present intended to reduce the number of dui accidents and alcohol related fatalities this campaign with the u.s. department of transportation has featured the taglines drinking & driving can kill a friendship friends don t let friends drive drunk and buzzed driving is drunk driving . 23 vince and larry the crash test dummies 1985 present 9 a campaign about safety belts . since the introduction of this campaign safety belt usage has increased from 14 % to 79 % saving an estimated 85 000 lives and 3.2 billion in costs to society . 18 aids prevention 1988 1990 this ad council ad campaign was the first to use the word condom in america . the psas informed americans of the dangers of the hiv and encouraged them to help stop aids . use a condom . 18 domestic violence 1994 present the psas encourage people to get involved in efforts to prevent domestic violence and to intervene if they know someone in an abusive relationship . in the first year of the campaign more than 34 000 calls were made to the family violence prevention hotline . 24 i am an american 2001 present a campaign launched in wake of the september 11 2001 terrorist attacks emphasizing the diversity of america . the ad features people of many ethnicities looking in the camera and simply saying i am an american . a slightly updated version of the ad was shown in 2011 during the 10th anniversary of the attacks . adoption from foster care 2004 present this campaign delivers the message that you don t have to be perfect to be a perfect parent . since the beginning of the campaign more than 14 000 families have registered to adopt kids through the campaign web site adoptuskids.org . autism awareness 2006 present the psas encourage parents to visit autismspeaks.org signs to learn the signs of autism and to find out about early intervention . the campaign won an effie award for advertising effectiveness in 2008 a silver telly in 2009 a silver addy and gold ogilvy in 2011 . 25 gay and lesbian bullying prevention 2008 present glsen and ad council launched the first campaign to address anti gay language among teens . psas feature celebrities such as wanda sykes grant hill and hilary duff and ask kids to stop using homophobic language such as that s so gay . 26 love has no labels 2015 present focused on diversity and inclusion the campaign s video was among the 10 most watched videos on youtube in 2015 . 27 the commercial for the campaign won the award for best commercial during at the 2016 emmy awards . 28 fatherhood involvement 2008 present psas featuring the tagline take time to be a dad today encourage fathers to play an active role in their children s lives . the campaign s cheerleader psa is one of the ad council s most popular psas and has earned 9.7 million in donated media since 2008 . 29 fwd campaign with usaid 2011 present in september 2011 ad council and united states agency for international development usaid launched the fwd campaign to spread awareness about famine war and drought in the horn of africa . the initiative garnered the participation of celebrities like uma thurman geena davis josh hartnett chanel iman and anthony bourdain who starred in public service announcements that asked the public to forward the facts about the crisis . 30 the we can do it poster was used by the ad council for its 70th anniversary celebration through a facebook app called rosify yourself . however the historic image was not produced by the war advertising council . the ad council claimed the 1943 we can do it poster associated with rosie the riveter after 1982 was developed by the wac as part of its women in war jobs campaign . 9 31 in february 2012 during the ad council s 70th anniversary celebration an interactive application designed by animax s helpsgood digital agency was linked to the ad council s facebook page . the facebook app was called rosify yourself and it allowed viewers to upload images of their faces to be incorporated into the we can do it poster then saved to be shared with friends . ad council president and ceo peggy conlon posted her own rosified face on the huffington post in an article about the ad council s past 70 years of public service . 32 the staff of the tv show today posted two rosified images on their web site using the faces of news anchors matt lauer and ann curry . 33 however the now famous poster was actually produced by an internal westinghouse corporate program as part of a series of posters shown to westinghouse employees for two weeks then discarded . it was not produced by the ad council nor was it used for recruiting women workers . 34 organizations with campaigns done by the ad council edit aarp agency for healthcare research and quality american cancer society american foundation for aids research american heart association american red cross americorps vista autism speaks afterschool alliance bedsider big brothers big sisters of america dollar general literacy