Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Interview with Peggy Conlon
Aired July 01, 2002 - 07:44 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: They have been reminding us that "friends don't let friends drive drunk" and "a mind is a terrible thing to waste." Now, the Ad Council has a new message for Americans: "cherish your freedom."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: On September 11, terrorists tried to change America forever. Well, they succeeded.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: And to talk more about the new campaign for freedom, which is being unveiled today, Peggy Conlon, president and CEO of the Ad Council -- good morning -- welcome.
PEGGY CONLON, PRESIDENT AND CEO, AD COUNCIL: Good morning.
ZAHN: How did this whole campaign come about?
CONLON: Well...
ZAHN: You weren't hired to do this, right?
CONLON: Oh, no, not at all.
ZAHN: You get people to donate time to you and advertising agencies to donate their services.
CONLON: That's correct. And this is all done pro bono by the advertising industry. As a matter of fact, this was really an unprecedented effort of about 10 different agencies that came together to execute against this campaign, which was to inspire Americans to remember and cherish our freedoms.
ZAHN: So it's not so much the message is about patriotism. It's about understanding and appreciating our freedoms.
CONLON: Exactly. You know, we had a huge burst of patriotism right after September 11. And really what we are trying to do with these wonderful messages is to keep that flame alive, to keep people thinking about why should we be protecting our freedom and how important it is to our way of life. ZAHN: We wanted to share with our audience a second PSA right now, so they can see more about what the campaign is all about -- let's watch.
(VIDEO CLIP OF PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT)
ZAHN: Can you gauge ahead of time how people are going to react to these ads?
CONLON: Well, only in a very informal way. You know, certainly we expose these ads to consumers and see what they think, and the reaction has been incredibly positive. I think it really stimulates a dialogue, which is what we are trying to do. We are not trying to define freedom for people. We are trying to get them to start talking about it with their friends, with their families, with their children.
ZAHN: In the last ad, what do you hope is the net effect of the emotional reaction of an audience to that?
CONLON: Well, the whole concept is, isn't this a wonderful country, and isn't this a wonderful process? And were it not for the freedom that allows us to be educated, to innovate, we wouldn't have some of these wonderful technologies that we have today.
ZAHN: And while that last ad pulls at the heartstrings in a very particular way, we are going to review another short ad that has an entirely different approach -- let's watch this now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Excuse me, I can't seem to find these anywhere.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These books are no longer available.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't know.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: May I have your name, please?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why? What did I say?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just have a couple of questions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: Now, I know you take a great deal of pride in these effective messages to the American public, but you pick up newspaper today, and some people are accusing the Ad Council of being emotionally manipulative -- your reaction to that criticism.
CONLON: Well, I think there are always people out there that will find fault with efforts like this, no matter how well- intentioned. We are very confident that the messages will ring true with the American people. And I think most importantly, what we are fighting for here is those people's right to say whatever they want to about our advertising. ZAHN: So tell us a little bit more. When you go into a campaign like this, you know that there are going to be people out there who say, oh, we can't tell whether this is the message of the government or the message of independent voices. You know you are going to be hit with that...
CONLON: Of course.
ZAHN: ... before you ever create these things.
CONLON: That's correct. But it hasn't stopped us in the past. Many of our messages over the last 60 years have been controversial, but when you're dealing with social issues and you're trying to create a message appropriate for the entire nation, there is always going to be people that take a different view of it. But on the whole, our messages have really resonated with the American people and created a lot of positive social change.
ZAHN: We are going to review the last one of these PSAs now to give people a further taste of what this campaign is all about -- let's watch this one.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CROWD (singing): Freedom, freedom, freedom, freedom, freedom.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: Of all of these we have seen this morning, which do you think is the most effective?
CONLON: Oh, that's a tough question. I think they are all incredibly effective, and they do different things. I think that the flag spot that we saw, the first one that you previewed is very much like the "I am an American" spot that we saw right after September 11. This really stimulates patriotism. The others, we hope, will create a dialogue and force people to think about what would America be without the freedoms that we have?
ZAHN: And you are saying in the past, these ads have created a forum for social change. What could you imagine might happen as a result of these ads, besides creating a dialogue? I mean, is there an end goal of what you want Americans to do?
CONLON: Yes. We want Americans to understand that it's everyone's responsibility to protect our freedom, whatever that means, whatever in this protracted war on terrorism we'll be called upon to do as American citizens. Remember, it's not about some distant war. It's really about protecting our way of life.
ZAHN: Well, the ads are powerful, and there certainly are a variety of them for people to get their arms around. Thank you for sharing them with us first here on AMERICAN MORNING.
CONLON: Thank you, Paula.
ZAHN: Peggy Conlon, CEO of the Ad Council -- glad to have you with us this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
