GORILLA MARKETING

Two sober television PSAs with actress Sigourney Weaver will inform viewers about the continued efforts needed to save the fewer than 650 mountain gorillas remaining in Africa.

Created by T.G. Madison in Atlanta, one 60-second TV spot contrasts Africa’s serene Virunga Mountains and the seemingly idyllic lives of the gorillaswith shots of poachers, civil war and habitat destruction.

In a 30-second spot, Weaver talks about the ability to raise funds through gorilla adoptions.

Weaver, who played the late researcher and animal rights activist Dian Fossey in the film Gorillas in the Mist, became honorary chairperson of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International in 1988.

The ads, which begin airing in Atlanta and New York later this month, will be offered to national broadcast and cable outlets including the Discovery Channel, Fox and the National Geographic Network.

Radio and direct mail efforts will alsobe directed at current and prospective fund members.