Luncheon Honors U.S. Fund for Unicef, Tap Project

NEW YORK The Stars of Madison Avenue kick-off luncheon at Advertising Week yesterday honored the U.S. Fund for Unicef for its cause marketing programs, including The Tap Project and Pampers' "One Pack = One Vaccine" efforts.CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF ADVERTISING WEEK 2008 "The U.S. Fund for Unicef was our unanimous choice for the Stars of Madison Avenue award that honors innovative marketing and advertising campaigns from both creative and philanthropic standpoints," said Ian Parmiter, president of the Advertising Club. "The U.S. Fund for Unicef has evolved into a sophisticated marketer that effectively reaches out to consumer, business and political communications in support of the world's children." The Tap Project, created by David Droga and his agency Droga5, began in 2007 as a New York City event on World Water Day. It asked restaurant patrons to pay $1 for a glass of tap water in order to help raise awareness and funds to provide clean and accessible drinking water to children around the world. The campaign has since expanded nationwide with the sponsorship of American Express and the help of agencies across the U.S. such as TBWA\Chiat\Day, Los Angeles, and Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore. The campaign is expected to roll out globally next year. "Tap has been an amazing thing. I feel so proud at least instigating something [like this] and seeing where it's going," said Droga. "The thing about Tap was that it was one of those ideas that anyone could have. It's such an obvious idea. Of the 25,000 children that are dying every day, 5,000 are water-related deaths, which makes the mind boggle as we all get served our water here today." Pampers' "One Pack = One Vaccine" campaign was launched this spring in North America. According to the company, it has generated funding to provide more than 45 million vaccines to protect women and newborns in developing nations against tetanus. Actress Selma Hayek promoted the effort, which donated the cost of one vaccine for every package of diapers bought that displayed the "One Pack = One Vaccine" sticker. "When you get the privilege of going to work every day to do something that your heart calls and someone actually calls it a career, it is a remarkable thing," said Caryl M. Stern, president and CEO of the U.S. Fund for Unicef. "Then when some people take the time to acknowledge the efforts of that work, I don't think it gets much better than that." Accepting the honor, Stern announced the launch of a new Unicef effort to begin later this fall called "Believe in zero" by The Matale Line, Seattle. The campaign stresses the ultimate goal of the organization that one day "zero" children will die of preventable causes. The campaign will include print and online ads and TV PSAs featuring celebrities such as Lucy Liu, Joel Madden, Marcus Samuelsson, Al Roker and Nicole Ritchie, among others. Stern told the audience that the number of daily children deaths is getting lower. According to a recent U.N. report, the number has dropped to 24,000 from 25,000. "We wanted to do something more important than an annual event, something more substantial and a little more dimensional than a clever headline," said Stern. "We've been striving to show people what's different about Unicef and get them motivated enough to stand up and be part of our cause." The new call-to-action "perfectly expresses our commitment, our passion and our abilities," said Stern. "Put simply, who are we? What do we do? We are the folks that do whatever it takes to save a child."

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Luncheon Honors U.S. Fund for Unicef, Tap Project

Eleftheria Parpis

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Eleftheria Parpis