And the Responsible Advertising Award goes to…
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Walmart? When I first saw this I was expecting an agency or some significant commercial, but what the presenters of the award (Hallmark and Parent’s Television Council) were looking for was a little more than just one commercial or even one campaign. Walmart was given the award because they have “committed to a policy of only sponsoring family-friendly programming through their advertising” (parentstv.org). I liked this because they were given an award for sponsoring responsible television. This means that it wasn’t just a narrow election, Walmart was chosen because they encouraged several programs and the commercials inbetween which has much more reach than a campaign. I didn’t know what the Parent’s Television Council was at first, but I found out (according to their website) that they are “the nation’s most influential advocacy organization protecting children against sex, violence and profanity in entertainment.” Hallmark teamed up with PTC and created this award. Walmart recieved the second anual award late last year. Pretty cool that their is a responsible advertising award out there that holds some weight.
It’s good to hear a mammoth like Walmart invests money in promoting socially-conscious programs like scholarships, this family-oriented television, voter registration, affordable perscription drugs, and energy conservation.
2 Comments
February 23rd, 2009 at 11:30 pm
You’re right, that’s exciting to see that there is finally a true award for responsible advertising. So many times we hear of the most artistic, best concept, or best execution of an ad, but it’s difficult to come across anything of lasting substance. It’s nice to see that Walmart can now be known for more than “Save Money. Live Better.” We now know that they’re looking out for more than just making a buck and saving our cash, but they have our best interests at heart. Thankfully, someone who will stand up for what’s right and get recognized for it.
February 24th, 2009 at 6:35 pm
I think this expans the meaning of what socially responsible advertising is. Yes, creating advertising that is socially responsible is important, but were are these ads going? And this emphasizes the importance of quality programming. This really speaks a lot about how Walmart is communicating with viewers of these programs and other competitors. Way to go Walmart!
And I think it’s great that there are companies out there that are showing recognition for promoting not only quality advertising, but quality programming!