Rotary is "this close" to achieving its goal of a polio-free world, and a wide array of public figures and celebrities have signed on to help Rotary spread the word. (More after the break)
From Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and action movie star Jackie Chan to golf legend Jack Nicklaus and conservationist Jane Goodall, more than 20 international and regional luminaries with a social conscience are raising their thumbs and forefingers in the “this close” gesture, to appear on billboards and in print ads soon to be seen worldwide.
Television and radio public service announcements also will be available in the coming months.
Rotary clubs can use the ads within their communities to increase awareness of and support for Rotary’s US$200 Million Challenge , the ongoing effort to raise $200 million for polio eradication to match $355 million in challenge grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Clubs and districts are encouraged to customize the “This Close” ads to help promote their own polio fundraising efforts, and to seek donated or discounted placements from their local newspapers, outdoor advertising companies, and television and radio stations. The ads complement the polio eradication component of Rotary’s broader Humanity in Motion public image campaign.
The “This Close” ads were introduced at the 2010 International Assembly. Print ads have since run in several publications, including The Rotarian magazine, USA Today , the Chicago Tribune , and the Wall Street Journal Asia . Rotarians at the 2010 RI Convention also saw them at Montréal-Trudeau International Airport.
The RI Public Relations Division sought participants who represent a wide range of professions, accomplishments, interests, and levels of celebrity. There are figures of international and cross-cultural fame, such as Tutu, Queen Noor of Jordan, and classical violinist Itzhak Perlman, as well as figures who are well known within specific countries, regions, and cultures, such as Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan, Nigerian soccer star Nwankwo Kanu, Beninese singer Angélique Kidjo, and Korean ballerina Sue Jin Kang.
Perlman, a polio survivor, has been particularly supportive of Rotary’s polio eradication effort. He will perform in his second benefit Concert to End Polio on 7 March with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Symphony Center. The first Concert to End Polio was a sold-out event featuring Perlman and members of the New York Philharmonic, who performed at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in December 2009.
- View a slideshow of the “This Close” print ads.
- Download the “This Close” print ads .
- Watch a video on Rotary's progress
No comments:
Post a Comment