Ad Council

The Advertising Council, Inc.
FoundedFebruary 26, 1942; 82 years ago (1942-02-26)[1]
13-0417693[2]
Legal status501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
Headquarters815 Second Avenue
New York City, New York, U.S. 10017[2]
Coordinates40°45′04″N 73°58′19″W / 40.7509767°N 73.9718453°W / 40.7509767; -73.9718453
Area served
United States
ProductsPublic service announcements[2]
Diego Scotti[3]
Lisa Sherman[4]
Revenue (2014)
$44,571,027[2]
Expenses (2013)$42,528,600[2]
Employees (2013)
153[2]
Volunteers (2013)
0[2]
Websitewww.adcouncil.org
Formerly called
The War Advertising Council, Inc.

The Advertising Council, commonly known as Ad Council, is an American nonprofit organization that produces, distributes, and promotes public service announcements or PSAs on behalf of various sponsors, including nonprofit organizations, non-governmental organizations and agencies of the United States government.[5]

The Ad Council partners with advertising agencies that 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-denominational, non-partisan (though not necessarily unbiased), have national relevance and be an issue for which communications can make a measurable difference.

The Ad Council distributes the advertisements to a network of 33,000[6] media outlets—including broadcast, print, outdoor (e.g., billboards, bus stops), and Internet—which 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]

Beyond advertisements across broadcast, print, and digital, campaign efforts often include virtual panels, coalition building, and information sharing.[9]

In 2020, the Ad Council coordinated with partners across government, media, tech, and health to disseminate messaging about social distancing, wearing masks, and staying home when possible to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.[10] In February 2021, the Ad Council announced the COVID-19 Vaccine Education initiative in partnership with COVID Collaborative and more than 300 partners.[11]

  1. ^ "The Advertising Council, Inc.". Entity Information. Division of Corporations. New York State Department of State. Accessed on April 5, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Form 990: Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax". The Advertising Council, Inc. Guidestar. June 30, 2019.
  3. ^ "[1]". Ad Council. Accessed on March 30, 2022.
  4. ^ "Executive and Senior Staff Archived 2016-04-10 at the Wayback Machine". Ad Council. Accessed on April 5, 2016.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference AdCouncil was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions". Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  7. ^ "Pet Adoption Campaign Partner Toolkit" (PDF). the shelter pet project. Ad Council, Humane Society of America, Maddie's Fund.
  8. ^ "Public-service advertising nears No. 1 ad pace in US". Christian Science Monitor. 26 April 1983. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  9. ^ "Who are the new trusted messengers for social-good campaigns?". Ad Age. 2022-02-11. Retrieved 2022-03-29.
  10. ^ "Coronavirus Prevention Campaign | Ad Council". www.adcouncil.org. Retrieved 2022-03-29.
  11. ^ "Covid-19 Vaccine Education | Ad Council". www.adcouncil.org. Retrieved 2022-03-29.