Video: Ad Council Joins ESPN to Encourage Men to Take Preventive Steps in their Health Care

Video: Ad Council Joins ESPN to Encourage Men to Take Preventive Steps in their Health Care

New PSAs Feature Sports Anchors from 'SportsCenter,' 'Mike and Mike in the Morning,' 'Rome is Burning' and 'Around the Horn'

NEW YORK, May 6 /PRNewswire/ -- The Advertising Council is joining ESPN today to launch a new series of national public service advertisements designed to raise awareness among middle-aged men about the importance of preventive medical testing. The new ads play off concepts created for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) for a men's health campaign that was launched last month. The ads will debut this week on ESPN media.

To view the Multimedia News Release, go to: http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/adcouncil/32884/

Men are 25 percent less likely than women to have visited the doctor within the past year and are 38 percent more likely than women to have neglected their cholesterol tests. (Source: AHRQ Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, 2005). Furthermore, men are 1.5 times more likely than women to die from heart disease, cancer and chronic lower respiratory diseases (Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2005).

The new television, radio, print and Web public service advertisements encourage men over 40 to learn which preventive screening tests they need to get and when they need to get them. The ads begin airing and running this week in donated media on ESPN properties including ESPN Networks, ESPN Radio, ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine. The Ad Council will also distribute the radio, print and web ads to additional media outlets for donated support.

Created pro bono for the Ad Council by ESPN and Wieden & Kennedy, the TV and radio ads feature ESPN anchors Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg (Mike and Mike in the Morning), Tony Reali and Woody Paige (Around the Horn), Jim Rome (Jim Rome is Burning) and SportsCenter's Stuart Scott. The PSAs encourage male audiences to follow their health the way they follow sports. To view the ads, visit www.adcouncil.org.

"As I found out late last year, the big "C" [cancer] doesn't know age, race, or tax bracket," said SportsCenter anchor Stuart Scott. "ANYTHING we all can do to erase this miserable disease, I'm honored to help try and do." ESPN founded The V Foundation for Cancer Research with the late Jim Valvano, legendary North Carolina State basketball coach and ESPN commentator. It has raised more than $70 million and today, following an endowment campaign, 100 percent of cash donations go to cancer research and related programs.

All of the public service ads encourage men to visit a comprehensive Web site, www.ahrq.gov/realmen. The site provides the recommended ages for preventive testing (as well as a list of tests), a quiz designed to test your knowledge of preventive health care, tips for talking with your doctor, a glossary of consumer health terms, and links to online resources where you can find more medical information.

"We hope this campaign will inform men about the importance of prevention and show them that they should work with their health care providers to find out what they should do to stay healthy," said AHRQ Director Carolyn M. Clancy, M.D.

"We are delighted to join ESPN and AHRQ for this new series of public service ads to encourage men to get preventive medical testing," said Peggy Conlon, President & CEO of the Ad Council. "The sports talent featured in the ads are well-known and appealing to our target audience, and I believe they will help motivate men in our country to take a more active role in their preventive health."

"Given that many of our viewers are in the Ad Council's target audience, we believe this collaboration to be a really natural fit that will resonate with fans," said Ed Erhardt, president, ESPN, Customer Marketing and Sales. "We are pleased to support this initiative."

This campaign complements AHRQ's existing efforts toward improving the safety and quality of health care and promoting patient involvement in their own health care, including the "Real Men Wear Gowns" campaign launched with the Ad Council in April, the Spanish-language "Superheroes" campaign launched in March, and "Questions are the Answer," which launched last year.

ESPN

ESPN, Inc. is the world's leading multinational, multimedia sports entertainment company featuring a portfolio of over 50 multimedia sports assets. The company is comprised of six domestic television networks (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Classic, ESPNEWS, ESPN Deportes, ESPNU), ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNEWS HD simulcast services, ESPN Regional Television, ESPN International (34 networks, syndication, radio, web sites), ESPN Radio, ESPN.com, ESPN The Magazine, ESPN Enterprises, ESPN PPV, ESPN Zones (sports-themed restaurants), and other growing new businesses including ESPN360.com (Broadband), ESPN Mobile Properties, ESPN on Demand and ESPN Interactive. Based in Bristol, Ct., ESPN is 80 percent owned by ABC, Inc., which is an indirect subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. The Hearst Corporation holds a 20 percent interest in ESPN.

The Advertising Council

The Ad Council (www.adcouncil.org) is a private, non-profit organization that marshals talent from the advertising and communications industries, the facilities of the media, and the resources of the business and non-profit communities to produce, distribute and promote public service campaigns on behalf of non-profit organizations and government agencies in issue areas such as improving the quality of life for children, preventive health, education, community well-being, environmental preservation and strengthening families.

AHRQ

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (www.ahrq.gov) is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. AHRQ's mission is to improve the quality, safety, efficiency and effectiveness of health care for all Americans. AHRQ's research helps people make more informed decisions and improve the quality of health care services. AHRQ sponsors the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, which is an independent panel of experts in primary care and prevention that systematically reviews the evidence of effectiveness and develops recommendations for clinical preventive services.

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Video:

http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/adcouncil/32884
Source: The Advertising Council

CONTACT: Ellyn Fisher of The Ad Council, +1-212-984-1964,
efisher@adcouncil.org, or Alison Lazar of ESPN, +1-212-456-0226,
alison.lazar@espn.com

Web site:

http://www.adcouncil.org/
http://www.ahrq.gov/realmen

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