Launch of Wireless AMBER Alerts Promotional Program

The Advertising Council, in partnership with The Wireless Foundation, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), and the U.S. Department of Justice, today launched a weeklong Wireless AMBER Alerts campaign during Advertising Week 2007 (Sept. 24-28) in New York City. The campaign, which aims to encourage millions of Americans to sign up for free wireless text message alerts and to help law enforcement safely recover abducted children, features new TV, radio, and print public service advertisements (PSAs) created pro bono by ad agency Merkley + Partners in New York.Statistics show that when a child is abducted, the first three hours are most critical to recovery efforts. Initially launched in May 2005, the Wireless AMBER Alerts initiative is a way to extend the AMBER Alert program by reaching out to the nearly 70 percent of the American population that uses wireless devices. Since its creation, the AMBER Alert program has helped reunite more than 360 children with their families.

In addition to the new traditional PSAs, the Wireless AMBER Alerts campaign will be featured on phone kiosks, billboards, web banners and the Panasonic screen in Times Square. Additionally, egrips(R) Technology (www.egrips.com) has donated 100,000 protective wireless device appliques with the campaign's creative to be distributed by Massive Media (www.massivemediainc.com) at Advertising Week events and high-traffic locations, including Grand Central Station, the Port Authority and Times Square. The wireless carriers serving New York (AT&T, Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless) will also help raise awareness of the campaign in their retail locations.

"Our unique partnership with NCMEC, The Wireless Foundation and the U.S. Department of Justice has had extraordinary results to date," said Peggy Conlon, president and CEO of The Advertising Council. "We are excited to debut this new series of PSAs during Advertising Week and to urge the entire advertising industry, as well as all wireless subscribers, to sign up for Alerts and help abducted children."

"Today, we have the power of technology to extend the reach of law enforcement with Wireless AMBER Alerts," said Steve Largent, president and CEO of CTIA-The Wireless Association(R) and president of The Wireless Foundation. "We hope these new PSAs will encourage the nearly 242 million wireless subscribers nationwide to sign up to receive free text messages and aid in the return of an abducted child."

All wireless subscribers who are capable of receiving text messages, and whose wireless carrier participates in the Wireless AMBER Alerts initiative, may opt in to receive free Alerts by registering at www.wirelessamberalerts.org or registering at their wireless carrier's Web site. Most eligible wireless subscribers can also text message the keyword "AMBER" followed by a space and their five-digit ZIP code to short code AMBER (26237).

"These public service advertisements are an important reminder that everyone with a wireless device can join in the search for abducted children," said NCMEC president and CEO Ernie Allen. "A few minutes spent registering to receive Wireless AMBER Alerts can save the life of a child, thanks to the efforts of the organizations and companies involved in this initiative."

The AMBER ("America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response") Alert initiative was created in 1996 when Dallas-Fort Worth broadcasters teamed with local police to develop an early warning system to find abducted children. The AMBER Alert program was soon adopted across the country and is a legacy to the memory of Amber Hagerman, a 9-year-old girl who was kidnapped in Arlington, Texas and then murdered. All 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands have since established AMBER Alert programs.

To learn more about the Wireless AMBER Alerts campaign and the partners, please visit www.wirelessamberalerts.org. To view the new PSAs, please visit http://www.adcouncil.org/default.aspx?id=354.