Patriotic PSAs’ Goal Is to Spur Public Service

One pays silent homage to the freedom Americans enjoy. Another flashes patriotic scenes from movies. A third has civic and military heroes answering the question, “Why do you serve?”

In the latest endeavor by media moguls to contribute to the war on terrorism, three 30-second public service announcements are being sent to almost every major broadcast and cable television network, with hopes they will run on the small screen sometime between today and July 4.

“The idea is to basically instill, hopefully, a sense of loyalty, a sense of pride, a sense of gratitude for not only the people in the military, but other people who serve,” said Rob Friedman, vice chairman of Paramount Pictures, who spearheaded the creation and distribution of the public service ads, along with high-ranking executives from NBC, CBS and Time Warner.

The spots, made with donated materials and time, are another result of last fall’s meeting here between President Bush’s top political strategist, Karl Rove, and the gatekeepers of every major studio and television network. When the meeting was first announced, some members of the Hollywood creative community expressed discomfort with the executives’ chumminess with the White House, fearing it would result in mandates for propaganda or censorship. But Rove and the executives publicly insisted that “content was off the table” during the discussions.

At the end of each brief announcement, viewers will see the name, number and Web site of USA Freedom Corp., a nonpartisan clearinghouse for volunteerism, with a Web site that links to other volunteer organizations, such as AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps.

“The president called on all Americans to dedicate at least two years of their life, the equivalent of 4,000 hours of their life, to service to others,” said Lindsey Kozberg, communications director for USA Freedom Corp. “Our mission is to help fulfill that.”

While the networks are under no obligation to run the spots, Friedman and his colleagues are hoping they see the short announcements as broad-based and universal enough to use for any audience.

“We’re giving it to these operations to use at their own discretion to be part of the effort,” said John Miller, president of NBC Agency, the network’s in-house advertising agency, who helped coordinate the project. “We’ve given them three versions, which they can use depending on their audience. It’s all about volunteerism. There’s no mandate or government mandate on that.”

While neither Miller nor Friedman expects these public-service spots to incite the entire nation into volunteering, they do see them as part of a larger body of pro-America projects launched since Rove first came to town.

In December, thousands of movie theaters played a trailer of inspiring moments in film that embody the American spirit, and some TV personalities taped holiday messages to the armed forces.

The Hollywood coalition also provided programs to the Armed Forces Radio Network, so the troops could get their fill of American pop culture.