TraverRohrback Calls On Cosby For Help On Pro Bono Campaign

TraverRohrback has enlisted one of TV’s top stars, Bill Cosby, to help encourage parents and children to embrace another medium: reading.
Cosby taped two 30-second spots for the Kalamazoo, Mich.-based agency’s campaign promoting the Ready to Read program. Also included in the effort are two posters and three outdoor boards, plus two radio spots that are in development, said Bill Traver, TraverRohrback’s chief executive officer. All campaign work was donated to the project. Outdoor boards were donated by Adams Outdoor.
The goal of the initiative is to get parents to start reading stories aloud as early in their children’s lives as possible.
While the program initially will focus on western Michigan, Ready to Read administrators hope to expand it statewide later this year or early next year, Traver said.
In one of the TV spots, Cosby directly addresses the audience: “You parents in west Michigan, are you reading to your kids?”
Print ads, which don’t feature Cosby, take a similar tone. “To enrich your infant’s brain development, most scientists suggest a steady diet of green eggs and ham,” reads one, playing off a Dr. Seuss book title.