# Ad Council

> Ad Council is a national nonprofit that assembles advertisers, media companies, technology platforms, government agencies, foundations and trusted public figures into behavior-change campaigns. Its edge is leverage: in fiscal 2025 it reported $74.5 million in revenue, while its partners supplied more than $1 billion in donated media. The organization runs about two dozen campaigns, operates a research institute and consultancy, mobilizes creators, and is moving into long-form entertainment.

- **Founded:** 1942
- **Headquarters:** New York, United States
- **Founders:** James Webb Young (Originator of the founding idea)
- **Products:** National social-impact campaigns, Creators for Good, Ad Council Edge, Ad Council Research Institute, Ad Council Entertainment
- **Notable:** Smokey Bear, launched in 1944, remains the longest-running public-service campaign in American history., The UNCF campaign 'A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Waste' helped raise more than $2.2 billion and support more than 350,000 graduates., Love Has No Labels became one of YouTube's ten most-watched videos of 2015 and won the Emmy for Outstanding Commercial, the first PSA to do so.

## Products & services

- **National social-impact campaigns** — Research, strategy, creative development, distribution and measurement for public-service campaigns across mental health, safety, health, gun violence, and community opportunity.
- **Creators for Good** — An in-house talent engagement operation connecting causes with celebrities, athletes, subject experts, community leaders and digital creators; it reports 3,500-plus talent partnerships across 50-plus causes.
- **Ad Council Edge** — A fee-based consultancy offering research, strategy, training, convenings and applied tests to companies, foundations and nonprofits pursuing public engagement.
- **Ad Council Research Institute** — Applied qualitative and quantitative research on audiences, messages, trusted messengers and behavior change, including public studies and custom engagements.
- **Ad Council Entertainment** — A Sugar23 partnership developing scripted and unscripted film, television and documentary projects around urgent social issues.

## Achievements

- Smokey Bear, launched in 1944, remains the longest-running public-service campaign in American history.
- The UNCF campaign 'A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Waste' helped raise more than $2.2 billion and support more than 350,000 graduates.
- Love Has No Labels became one of YouTube's ten most-watched videos of 2015 and won the Emmy for Outstanding Commercial, the first PSA to do so.
- The 2020 coronavirus response generated a reported $445 million in media value, 47.7 billion impressions and 32.9 million Coronavirus.gov sessions.
- Creators for Good reports more than 3,500 talent partnerships, work on more than 50 causes and reach exceeding 350 million people.
- The 2026 annual report says more than 33 million prediabetes risk tests have been completed since 2016.
- The 2026 annual report says the skills-first hiring campaign helped spur 32 states to remove bachelor's-degree requirements from state jobs.
- The organization received more than $1 billion in donated media in the year covered by its 2026 annual report.

## Latest updates

- **2026-09** — With NHTSA, launched the 'They Grow. You Check.' child car-seat campaign and new English- and Spanish-language PSAs.
- **2026-09** — With the Alzheimer's Association, released 'Out of Place' PSAs; the broader campaign had driven more than 8.2 million visits to 10Signs.org since 2023.
- **2026-09** — Named former Axios CFO Jenny Darling chief financial and operations officer.
- **2026-08** — Extended Agree to Agree into mobile gaming environments to reach millennial parents with gun-safety resources.
- **2026-07** — Named Sundial Media & Technology Group CEO Kirk McDonald chair of the board.
- **2026-06** — Introduced an AI-powered gun-safety resource tool with Microsoft, DEPT and RSM.
- **2025-08** — Launched Ad Council Entertainment with Sugar23 to develop long-form scripted and unscripted work.

## Links

- Website: https://www.adcouncil.org/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-advertising-council/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/adcouncil
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/adcouncil
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adcouncil/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adcouncil

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/ad-council
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-24