Seacrest Scopes Out P&G’s ‘Kiss Cam’

Procter & Gamble has tapped American Idol host Ryan Seacrest in a New Year’s Eve promotion for its Scope brand.

The packaged goods giant is making a donation to Operation Smile for every couple caught kissing on the Scope “Kiss Cam” in New York’s Times Sqaure this New Year’s Eve. The charity, which is supported by celebrities including Jessica Simpson, Billy Bush and Mario Lopez, raises money to treat childhood deformities, such as cleft lip.

Ryan Seacrest partnered with P&G on a similar promotion for Scope last year, which ran during Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve countdown on ABC. Based on the success of last year’s Scope Kiss Cam with Ryan Seacrest, P&G decided to revive the promotion this year, said P&G rep Laura Brinker.

P&G has begun advertising the promotion via radio ads on Seacrest’s nationally syndicated radio show, On-Air with Ryan Seacrest. The radio ads run through Dec. 31. Online ads went live on RyanSeacrest.com today and will continue running through Jan. 4.

Scope also will appear in six televised spots during the 10 p.m. EST broadcast of New Year’s Rockin’ Eve on Dec. 31. Created by Saatchi & Saatchi, the ads follow in the same format as the ones for Scope White, which show Seacrest using the mouthwash before running on stage. Even as one crew member tells him it’s time to go on stage, Seacrest reinforces the importance of the mouthwash routine: “Everyone likes to smell good. Makes you more likeable,” he says before running off.

As part of its New Year’s promotion with Seacrest, P&G also is launching an in-store program, called “See a Difference, Make a Difference,” to support children with cleft lip. P&G is donating money to Operation Smile on behalf of purchases made on its Scope, Crest and Oral-B products.

Torri Leeds, svp at DeVries, New York, a public relations firm that worked with P&G on the launch, said linking Scope with a classic New Year’s Eve tradition—the kiss—made sense, given that it’s a mouthwash brand. “It’s all about fresh breath and the idea of getting close [to someone],” Leeds said.

Scope brand manager Matt Kenneway said the retail donation program, which runs through March, would help more than 200 children with cleft lip living in third-world countries. “We found that consumers really sparked to the idea of having their purchases do something for [the children] . . . and they like to use their dollars to help with worthy causes,” Kenneway said.

P&G spent $6.4 million advertising Scope in the U.S. in 2007, and $1.4 million through October of this year, excluding online, per Nielsen Monitor-Plus.