ALS PSA Wins 2009 Applied Arts Design & Advertising Award

June 25, 2009 - PRLog -- TORONTO, CANADA- The ALS Society of Canada’s television public service announcement, “Head and Shoulders”, has won the 2009 Applied Arts Design & Advertising Award for best single television commercial over 30 seconds.
   
“The ‘Head and Shoulders’ PSA has been tremendously successful at raising awareness for ALS,” says David Cameron, president and CEO of ALS Society of Canada.

Created pro bono by Toronto ad agency, LOWE ROCHE, the PSA has aired across the country in both French and English and has been viewed more than 40,000 times on YouTube. Composed of a montage of clips, each one focuses on a man with ALS in emotionally charged moments as his disease progresses to different parts of his body. Set to the children’s song, “Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes”, as the spot progresses, and his conditions worsen, the cheerful singing becomes a sad whisper.

"In the first two years of the disease, most people with ALS lose the use of their arms and legs,” said Christina Yu, vice president, creative director, LOWE ROCHE. “We thought using the popular children’s song would help bring that point home to many people.”

The PSA will appear in the prestigious Design & Advertising Awards Annual publication. It will also be displayed at the Award’s Winner Exhibit and featured on the Design & Advertising Awards Winners online gallery, which attracts more than 200,000 visitors annually. The awards given by Applied Arts, a Canadian visual communications magazine, recognize exceptional design and advertising each year.

View the Head and Shoulders public service announcement at http://www.als.ca/

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ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a rapidly progressive and fatal neuromuscular disorder that causes the degeneration of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. ALS can affect men and women of any ethnic origin at any age. Approximately 2,500 to 3,000 Canadians are living with the disease. Eighty per cent of those affected will die within two to five years of diagnosis.

The ALS Society of Canada, founded in 1977, is the only national voluntary health organization dedicated solely to the fight against ALS and support for those living with ALS. ALS Canada funds research towards a cure for ALS, supports the provincial ALS societies in the provision of quality care for those living with ALS, and provides information to build public awareness about the disease. The vision of the ALS Society of Canada is to find a cure for ALS.

LOWE ROCHE was named Marketing Magazine’s 2007 agency of the year. Its key clients include Audi, Nestle Purina and Boston Pizza.