Actor Tom Hanks to Appear in TV, Radio and Print Campaign for the National World War 11 Memorial

    NEW YORK, March 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Oscar-nominee Tom Hanks will appear in
 his first public service campaign to help generate public awareness and
 support for the National World War II Memorial to be built in our nation's
 capital.  Sponsored by The Advertising Council, which had its origins in World
 War 11, the advertising campaign will break this spring and will include
 television, radio and print ads.
     "After the experience of making the film 'Saving Private Ryan,' I was
 surprised to realize there is no national memorial to honor the men and women
 who served in World War II," stated Academy-award winner/nominee Tom Hanks.
 "When I learned that the memorial could become a reality, I immediately wanted
 to be part of the effort."
     TV spots and radio are expected to go into national distribution in late
 March, followed by print in April.  The television PSA was directed by
 award-winning director Joe Pytka, created by Marsteller Advertising and
 produced by sister ad agencies Young & Rubicam and Marsteller Advertising.
     "The Ad Council is proud to get behind the public service campaign to
 raise funds for the World War II Memorial," said Ruth A. Wooden, president,
 The Advertising Council.  "Our involvement is a natural one given the Ad
 Council's origins in 1942 with its effort to raise funds to support the War
 Bonds Campaign and the "Rosie the Riveter" Campaign to help recruit women into
 the workforce."
     The $100 million memorial will be funded primarily through private
 contributions.  To date the campaign has raised more than $43 million.
 Senator Bob Dole and Frederick W. Smith, CEO of FDX Corporation, national
 chairmen of the memorial campaign, stated, "We are grateful to Tom for
 generously donating his time and enthusiasm in support of this generation and
 cause.  We have no doubts that the national awareness he brings to the project
 will greatly help us meet our objective of completing this memorial as soon as
 possible, and honoring those who sacrificed so much for freedom."
     The memorial will honor all military veterans of the war, the citizens on
 the home front, the nation at large, and the high moral purpose and idealism
 that motivated the nation's call to arms.  It will be located on the Mall in
 Washington, D.C. at the Rainbow Pool site between the Lincoln Memorial and the
 Washington Monument.  President Clinton dedicated the memorial site on
 Veterans Day 1995.  Friedrich St. Florian's design concept was approved last
 summer.
     The Ad Council uses the power of advertising to stimulate action to
 address the problems confronting Americans today.  It is joined in this
 mission by the media, the advertising industry, the business world and the
 non-profit community.
     A private, non-profit organization, the Ad Council was founded in 1942 to
 rally support for the war effort.  The Ad Council created PSA campaigns that
 raised $35 billion in War Bonds, encouraged the planting of 50 million Victory
 Gardens, and recruited 2 million women into the work force through the
 powerful symbol, "Rosie the Riveter."
     The War Advertising Council (as it was then known) proved so valuable to
 the country that, after the war, President Truman asked it to continue as a
 peacetime nongovernment public-service organization to help solve the most
 pressing social issues of the day.
     The American Battle Monuments Commission, an independent agency of the
 executive branch of the federal government, is responsible for the design and
 construction of the memorial.  The ABMC provides administration, care and
 maintenance for 24 military cemeteries outside the U.S. and 27 monuments in
 the U.S. and overseas.
     For more information on how to help build the National World War 11
 Memorial, contact:
 
     Address:      The American Battle Monuments Commission
                   2300 Clarendon Blvd., Suite 501
                   Arlington, VA 22201
     Toll free:    800-639-4WW2
     Web site:     http://www.wwiimemorial.com
 
 

SOURCE  American Battle Monuments Commission