- Gregory Solman

LOS ANGELES Independent WongDoody on Friday breaks a star-studded campaign touting ABC's 60th Emmy Awards telecast on Sept. 21.

Focusing on the frequently emotional connection between audiences and TV stars, the Los Angeles agency's effort features eye-catching print and bus wraps that bring together series' characters and stars of the past 60 years.

The wraps use the line "Everyone on TV is going. Are you?" and suggest the unlikely fantasy that the Muppets, Stan and Cartman from South Park, the Fonz, Laverne and Shirley, Marge Simpson, the Incredible Hulk and Superman, among others, are on board.

The centerpiece is a montage of 400-plus TV faces -- a who's who in the history of the medium -- that will run as posters and spreads in national magazines and newspapers. The work includes the line "One night. Everything you love about TV." Print publications carrying the gatefold and print executions include Glamour, People Style Watch and Entertainment Weekly.

The agency was assigned the project by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences based on its work promoting the extension of prime-time Emmy eligibility to broadband-distributed content.

Wong's team includes senior creative director Michael Boychuk, art director Ben Schneider and copywriter Julia Regan.

Wong said that procuring all the image rights for 418 separate stars (some of whom are deceased) was a logistic challenge "a little bit like childbirth."

Added Wong: "At first blush, from a creative point of view, you think showing the stars is not a big deal, but in promoting the show in the past they've tended to keep showing the statue. We were thinking that the 60 years covers the life span of many of these stars and fans that remember them, and television has a connection with America like nothing else. So you put all these icons together, there is something here for everyone."