How the Ad Council Created Dozens of Coronavirus PSAs in a Pinch

The campaigns feature stars of popular TV shows, Elmo and more

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While the Ad Council is no stranger to crisis—it was founded during World War II, after all—the coronavirus pandemic has created unprecedented challenges for the country’s leading producer of public service communications.

The nonprofit was an early adopter of the work-from-home recommendation, sending everyone home on March 11 to work remotely until further notice. That weekend, things really started to heat up.

“We understood very quickly that the country really was going to need critical, urgent, vetted and research-based messaging,” said Ad Council president and CEO Lisa Sherman.

After receiving messaging points from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday, March 13, the Ad Council went to one of its partners, NBCUniversal,

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