Cynopsis 2016 Social Good Awards - Results

There was no shortage of goodwill in the room at Cynopsis’ second annual Social Good Awards Breakfast in New York City on April 7. Campaigns ranging from exposing trafficking in endangered species, to empowering veterans, to preventing bullying were spotlighted, to an appreciative (and packed) house.

Giving back is in the DNA of many of the companies in attendance. “Social good is good in terms of a corporate reputation, but also you live and you work in these communities and you want to make sure you’re supporting the causes your customers care about,” Irma Arizmendi, Jet Blue’s manager of corporate responsibility, told Cynopsis. “It’s not only important for the community, it’s important for us as a group of companies to get together and stand behind anything that would make a difference in America, in the world.”

FedEx is another company with a long history of giving back. “FedEx cares and has always cared,” said Steve Pacheco, director of advertising & sponsorship marketing. “Our employees are very actively engaged in the communities where they work, and they get a great deal of fulfillment from contributing. Anywhere you see the FedEx brand, chances are you’ll see activation of our community and social responsibility message.”

It’s not just about doling out dollars, emphasizes Meredith Hahn, VP, corporate social responsibility at American Express, which has a philanthropic arm that was incorporated back in 1954. “We realize just making grants is not going to capitalize on the power of our employees to bring their voice and their energy to causes, as well as our customers, many whom are very interested in causes. Campaigns hit a chord with our communities, employees, customers, and business partners. We really wrap our arms around how we can find easy ways for them to get involved.”

There’s no denying the feel-good factor. “We’re an ad agency, and there’s not a lot of ad agencies in these kinds of awards,” Kevin Meagher, copywriter Deutsch, told Cynopsis. “But we’ve done work for WATERisLIFE for quite a while and we think it’s an interesting realm, going from brands wanting to push their name out, to doing something for the greater good. Overall as an agency, it makes us feel good knowing we’re doing something better for the earth.”

“Disney is driven by storytelling and technology – and we know that kids introduced to computer science today will become the innovators and storytellers of tomorrow,” said James Pitaro, chairman of Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media. “We are honored to have partnered with Code.org to introduce millions of students to coding, which is becoming one of the most important languages of their generation.”

But sometimes, doing something for the greater good actually helps the bottom line. Reelio works with influencers in the social media space, “and one of the things that’s really interesting is that from a pure numbers perspective, we found that if an influencer is talking about something commercial, a branded opportunity versus talking about a cause related opportunity, a cause will get about three and a half times the amount of engagement as just the commercial message,” said Reelio CEO Pete Borum. “When a brand mixes their call to action with something that is cause related, they may get a two and a half times lift. It really does have a lot of impact on business metrics to integrate a message with a cause-related call to action.”

At the end of the day, “We’re all striving to do good work, and anytime we can do good in television, it’s a great thing,” said Erich Archer, executive director, Cape Ann Television. “It’s a very powerful medium.”

Proud to salute those in the industry doing such a stellar job raising awareness and inspiring action, Cynopsis got into the act with a contribution to Red Nose Day.

2016 Winners & Honorable Mentions

Animal Awareness Campaign or Initiative
Winner: Discovery Channel – Racing Extinction
Discovery used its doc Racing Extinction as the centerpiece of a larger multiplatform campaign to expose the world of endangered species trafficking and the race to prevent mass extinction. The call to action encompassed a variety of additional Discovery content, user-created contributions using the hashtag #StartWith1Thing; and partnerships with numerous organizations and social media outlets.

Honorable Mentions:

National Geographic Kids – Mission: Animal Rescue
TakePart – Cecil the Lion

Awareness Campaign or Initiative

Winner: Got Your 6
Uniting nonprofit, entertainment and government partners to empower the quarter-million service members who exit the military and re-enter civilian life each year, Got Your 6 worked to integrate veterans into their communities – empowering both.

Honorable Mentions:

A+E Networks – FYI’s Tiny House Nation: Welcome Home
Baer Bones Inc – ActionLab
Discovery Communications – Say Yes to the Prom
Food Network – #BakeItForward Campaign for No Kid Hungry
Lifetime – Broad Focus
Pinkwater & Putman – Fair Food Program
Sony Pictures Television – Picture This
Toyota – The Toyota Effect
The NASCAR Foundation’s Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award presented by Nationwide
Univision Communications Inc. – Estudia Hay Dinero
UP tv – “UPLIFT SOMEONE”

Best Music Episode with a Social Good Theme
Winner: MTV – Rebel Music Native America
The premiere episode of Rebel Music, MTV’s first long-form Facebook premiere, focused on the lives of the indigenous people of one of the world’s leading nations who’ve been facing challenges including a suicide rate four times the national average. The story of Native youth trying to rewrite their own narrative and went viral, breaking records with 4.8 million FB views.

Honorable Mentions:

BET Networks – What’s At Stake: Dear Black Man
Pop – Sing It On- Episode 107 “South Semifinals”

Best Overall Marketing
Winner: Cartoon Network – Stop Bullying: Speak Up!
CN’s campaign provides youth, parents, and educators resources to help prevent bullying. The 2015 activation included a multiplatform national ad campaign, on-air event, a weekend programming block of the show Teen Titan’s Go!, spots on the CN Sayin’ App, content across CN Anything, and social channels throughout the month of October.

Honorable Mentions:

Nickelodeon – Get Dirty
Participant Media – That Which I Love Destroys Me
Viacom International Media Networks – Nickelodeon Together for Good

Best Scripted Episode with a Social Good Theme
Winner: Litton Entertainment – The Inspectors
Airing on CBS, The Inspectors aims to empower teens with information to protect themselves from fraud and exposes the consequences of illegal activity from the perspectives of a US Postal Inspector and a young man living with paralysis who’s determined to become a Postal Inspector. Real case stories culled from the Postal Inspection Service range from computer scams, to identity and mail theft to packages filled with dangerous contraband.

Honorable Mentions:

BET Networks – Being Mary Jane
Netflix – Project Mc²
USA Network – Royal Pains “Prince of Nucleotides”

Best Sports Spot (Over 30 seconds)
Winner: WWE – Connor’s Cure
Created to honor Connor Michalek, a young patient whom WWE’s Stephanie McMahon and Paul “Triple H” Levesque met with before he lost his battle with cancer in 2014, Connor’s Cure started out as a pediatric cancer research fund at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and is expanding to support research centers across the country through V Foundation grants that have raised more than $1 million.

Honorable Mentions:

Adore Creative – LA 2015 World Games Special Olympics Closing Film
FOX Sports Supports – We Are BGCA
Major League Baseball – Babe Ruth PLAY BALL Commercial
Major League Baseball – PLAY BALL Anthem

Best Spot (30 seconds or less)
Winners:
Major League Baseball – SU2C – “Pearl”
MLB has donated nearly $40 million to Stand Up To Cancer and produced PSAs, promos, fundraisers and live broadcast moments in-ballpark during Jewel Events. Its “Potential” PSA aired during the 2015 World Series, bringing an intimate look at the early lives of MLB stars, featuring cancer survivor and Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo. The PSA debuted on MLB.com and got 37.3 million unique visitors in October 2015.

Viacom – Witness the Power of Story
Viacom partnered with Peter Gabriel’s human rights organization Witness on this campaign that included a series of 30-second PSAs created by Velocity targeting unique audiences and specific initiatives, including: MTV’s “Look Different” campaign, CMT’s Empowering Education, VH1 Save The Music Foundation, BET What’s At Stake, and Spike’s Veterans Operation Wellness

Honorable Mentions:

Major League Baseball – PLAY BALL Hitting
Science Channel – Support Our Science
Time Warner Cable – Connectory Promotional Campaign – “Electromagnet”
Viacom Velocity – The Real Cost

Best Spot (Over 30 seconds)
Winner: Viacom Velocity – The Real Cost
The FDA wanted to target millennials with its “The Real Cost” campaign, which aims to motivate teens and young adults not to smoke. Viacom Velocity created faux PSAs featuring Viacom comedic talent to air on all platforms across Comedy Central. Just one 30-second spot that premiered in the October 28 episode of South Park garnered 1.02 million impressions for A18-34.

Honorable Mentions:

American Heroes Channel – Jake LaFerriere Hero Moment
ESPN CreativeWorks – AT&T It Can Wait / Fletcher’s Drive
Rotary International/Entertain Impact – “This Close” END POLIO NOW PSA campaign
Nickelodeon – Get Dirty
R&R Partners – R&R Partners/Animal Foundation
Science Channel – Support Our Science
SpikeTV – VOW Interstitial – Civilian Military Combine
Viacom – Verizon Hopeline

Best Unscripted Episode with a Social Good Theme
Winner: Fusion Media Inc. – Generation In Crisis
There are 1 billion children currently living in countries affected by war or conflict. In “Generation in Crisis,” Fusion’s Alicia Menendez traveled to Jordan, Rwanda, and El Salvador to share the stories of women and children who don’t have access to formal schooling, marry at younger ages and become heads of households.

Honorable Mentions:

Cape Ann TV – On the Waterfront
Channel One News – Bullying Hero
Fusion Media Inc. – Generation in Crisis
INSP – Brush of Honor
Investigation Discovery – HATE IN AMERICA
Litton Entertainment – Chicken Soup for the Soul’s Hidden Heroes
National Geographic Channel – Explorer: Warlords of Ivory
NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations – NBC Clear The Shelters Special
OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network – Belief
Participant Media – Secret Lives of Americans

Branded Campaign for a Digital or Mobile Platform
Winner: Understood.org – Understood.org
With the power of 15 nonprofit organizations working together to support parents of the one in five children with learning and attention issues, Understood combines technology, personalized resources, free access to experts and a secure online community to provide flexible tools to provide an innovative digital resource.

Honorable Mentions:

A Plus – You’re More Successful Than You Realize
Logo – Beautiful As I Want To Be
MSNBC – MSNBC + Global Citizen Festival
TakePart – In Her Company
Univision Communications Inc. – Clave al Exito

Branded Campaign for a TV Series
Winner: ESPN – SportsCenter “My Wish”
The My Wish series chronicles sports-themed wishes granted to children with life-threatening medical conditions. 2015 marked the 10th year of ESPN’s collaboration with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, with 55 wishes fulfilled over the course of the series. The network chronicled these efforts and the work of Make-A-Wish through its networks, ESPN.com and social media platforms.

Honorable Mentions:

Glow – Syfy – Childhood’s End
Litton Entertainment – Save Our Shelter by DOG for DOG
Kraft/NBC Sports Group/NHL/NHLPA – KRAFT HOCKEYVILLE
TWC NY1 News – It Ain’t Rocket Science
USA Network – LAW & ORDER: SVU “NO MORE Excuses” marathons

Branded Campaign for a TV Special Programming
Winner: Participant Media – Know How
With a goal of raising foster care youths’ voices for change, the Know How campaign launched in May 2015 to coincide with National Foster Care Month. Its content has reached more than 1 million people, affected legislative change in California, collected more than 21,000 signatures on dedicated foster care petition and pledges and garnered almost 19,000 visits to Know How foster care editorial series on TakePart.com.

Honorable Mentions:

A&E Network – Shining a Light: A Concert for Progress on Race in America
CNN – Heroes + Subaru’s “Share the Love” Campaign
Discovery Channel – Shark Week 2015 Save Sharks Campaign
Lifetime – Women of Honor
The Christian Broadcasting Network – The Hope: The Rebirth of Israel – Documentary
WWE – “Rise Above Cancer” Get the Gear, Join the Fight with Susan G. Komen

Cultural Awareness Campaign or Initiative
Winner: MSNBC – MSNBC + Global Citizen Festival
MSNBC and the Global Poverty Project’s campaign around the 2015 Global Citizen Festival included a showcase of stories about global issues that contribute to extreme poverty and champions who are helping to solve them, culminating with the live broadcast and live stream of the festival on September 26.

Honorable Mentions:

Fusion Network – 19 Million Project by FUSION
MTV – Rebel Music

Diversity Campaign or Initiative
Winner: MTV Decoded
Comedian Franchesca Ramsey breaks down racism and race issues in MTV’s web series Decoded. Her stereotype-busting insights and humor shine through episodes including the popular “Are Fried Chicken and Watermelon Racist?”

Honorable Mentions:

JetBlue Airways – KaBOOM! Playground with The Pride Center
Myx TV – The Doll Life
Nielsen and Special Olympics: International Strategic Alliance

Environmental Campaign or Initiative
Winner: JetBlue Airways – CO2 Neutral for A Month: One Thing That’s Green 2015 Emissions campaign
JetBlue for eight years has partnered with Carbonfund.org to enable travelers to offset part of the carbon footprint from their flights by donating to carbon reduction projects. From April 1-30, 2015, the effort reduced the carbon impact of 500,000 metric tons of CO₂e or 57.1 million gallons of jet fuel. JetBlue then purchased the equivalent offsets, which would be used to protect a 400,000-acre rainforest in Brazil.

Honorable Mentions:

Litton Entertainment – Ocean Mysteries with Jeff Corwin
Litton Entertainment – World Oceans Day
Maryland Public Television – Chesapeake Bay Week® 2015
Nickelodeon – Get Dirty
Participant Media – Investigate Fortitude
Sony Pictures Television – Picture This

Green/Sustainability Campaign or Initiative
Winner: Discovery Channel – Racing Extinction
Discovery used its doc Racing Extinction as the centerpiece of a larger multiplatform campaign to expose the world of endangered species trafficking. The call to action encompassed a variety of Discovery content, user-created contributions and partnerships with numerous organizations and social media outlets.

Honorable Mentions:

Hulu – Hulu
JetBlue Airways – T5 Farm
Participant Media – Human Resources
Chemistry Club/Volta Industries – Monterey Bay Aquarium “Go Where the Current Takes You”

Hash Tag Promotion
Winners:
National Geographic Society – #5forBigCats
For World Lion Day, National Geographic asked the public to create a worldwide virtual high-five chain- to raise awareness across social media about the plight of big cats in the wild and funds for big cat conservation using a consistent hashtag. The campaign generated 27,000 mentions of #5forBigCats over the course of the campaign from 86 countries, and raised $200,000 raised for Nat Geo’s Big Cats Initiative to support on-the-ground conservation efforts in Africa.

Whistle Sports – Canadian Tire #WannaPlay
Retailer Whistle Sports teamed with Canadian Tire to launch the retailer’s summer campaign, #WannaPlay, designed to inspire families to get outside and create and share content. Six Whistle Sports creators shared their videos with their social media communities through posts on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Vine and Instagram to achieve 3.6 million in reach.

Honorable Mentions:

OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network – #Selma50
OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network – #Beliefin3words
SapientNitro – #HaloFeeditForward
SapientNitro – Giving Tuesday
Television Academy/Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls/Twitter – #SmartGirlsAsk Launch at the EMMYs
The Social Edge – George Takei & #BoycottIndiana

Health Awareness Campaign or Initiative
Winner: WWE – Connor’s Cure
Created to honor Connor Michalek, a young patient whom WWE’s Stephanie McMahon and Paul “Triple H” Levesque met with before he lost his battle with cancer in 2014, Connor’s Cure started out as a pediatric cancer research fund at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and is expanding to support research centers across the country through V Foundation grants that have raised more than $1 million.

Honorable Mentions:

BET Networks – BET Goes Pink
NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises – Prevenir es vivir/Prevention is Life
TWC NY1 News – Colon Cancer Awareness

Human Rights Initiative/Campaign or Initiative
Winner: Baer Bones Inc – ActionLab
Social action tool ActionLab uses storytelling to bridge awareness and action through concrete opportunities to advocate for organizations such as Chrysalis, South Central Scholars, Save the Children, Planet Aid, Child Rights International Network, D-Rev, SHE, IDEO, and We Care.

Honorable Mentions:

Discovery Communications – Support of My Brother’s Keeper
EcoMedia – EcoMedia + First Book + CBS Advertisers Partner to End Illiteracy
Logo – 2015 Trailblazer Honors

Integrated Campaign
Winner: BTN/TeamWorks Media – BTN LiveBIG
Created to shine a light on the Big Ten students, faculty, alumni and staff who make difference in the world through innovations in research and community service, this campaign presented BTN’s sports-focused audience with 42 vignettes that aired on BTN during televised games, articles published daily at BTNLiveBIG.com; and updates on Youtube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Honorable Mentions:

Destination America – Red White & You 2015
Entertain Impact – Love & Mercy / Brian Wilson – The Beach Boys / Little Kids Rock
MTV – Rebel Music
NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations – Clear The Shelters Special
Pivot and New Amsterdam Vodka – It’s Your Town
SapientNitro – #HaloFeeditForward
USC Shoah Foundation and Discovery Education – Auschwitz: The Past is Present
Whistle Sports – FNV Live!

Integrated Campaign for a TV Series or Special Programming
Winners:
OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network – Belief
This seven-part television event was narrated by Oprah and illuminated faith and spiritual practices from around the world. Included were stories about the largest peaceful gathering in the history of the world as a group of believers seek redemption along the banks of a holy river, and a free climber on the side of a mountain who believes there is no greater power than just being present.

WNET New York Public Media – American Graduate Day 2015
This live, seven-hour broadcast leveraged the power of public media stations nationwide, and celebrity supporters to bring attention to the country’s high school dropout crisis. Hosted by Soledad O’Brien and featuring appearances from First Lady Michelle Obama, President George W. Bush, and Dolly Parton, the special was created in partnership with Edelman and supported by more than 50 partner organizations.

Honorable Mentions:

Crown Media Family Networks (Hallmark Channel) – Hallmark Channel’s Kitten Bowl II
Litton Entertainment – Chicken Soup for the Soul’s Hidden Heroes
Litton Entertainment – The Inspectors
OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network – #Selma50

Integrated Social Campaign for a Brand
Winners:
Cartoon Network – Cartoon Network’s Stop Bullying: Speak Up!
Created in 2010, CN’s campaign provides resources to help prevent bullying. The 2015 activation included a multiplatform national ad campaign, on-air event, a weekend programming block of the show Teen Titan’s Go!, spots on the CN Sayin’ App, content across CN Anything, and social channels throughout the month of October.

Toyota – The Toyota Effect
For this unique campaign, digital studio Cinelan worked with Toyota to showcase how the manufacturer’s systematic Toyota Production System can be implemented in the nonprofit world. Short films focus on Toyota’s involvement with organizations such as one that helps rebuild homes for people who’ve lost theirs in natural disasters.

Honorable Mentions:

Blue Chalk Media – Promise of Oregon
Litton Entertainment – Save Our Shelter by DOG for DOG
Logo – #All50 marriage equality campaign

Kids Awareness Campaign or Initiative
Winner: Ryan Seacrest Foundation – Seacrest Studios
As part of its mission to inspire youth through entertainment- and education-focused initiatives, the Ryan Seacrest Foundation has built nine broadcast media centers in pediatric hospitals for patients to explore the creative realms of radio, television and new media to aid in the healing process for children and their families during their stay.

Honorable Mentions:

Cartoon Network – Stop Bullying: Speak Up!
Disney Interactive – Hour of CodeLitton Entertainment – The Inspectors
Nickelodeon Creative Advertising – Truth Initiative: Obsolete
Nickelodeon – Get Dirty
Optimedia – GLSEN: Safe & Affirming Schools / LGBT Bullying Prevention
Sesame Workshop – Sesame Street and Autism: See Amazing in All Children
TWC NY1 News – Fit Kids February
Viacom International Media Networks – Nickelodeon Together for Good

Kids Nonprofit/Corporate Partnership
Winner: Disney Interactive – Hour of Code
Disney and Code.org’s computer science tutorial featuring heroines Anna and Elsa the film Frozen kicked off the annual Hour of Code campaign to spark interest in computer science among children ages K-12, particularly girls who are highly underrepresented in the field. To reach a global audience, the tutorial was translated into 36 languages and was available in every country, free of cost.

Honorable Mentions:

Azteca America – Azteca America and Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals®
Kids In Need Foundation – Partnership with CBS EcoMedia
Nickelodeon – Get Dirty
Optimedia – Safe & Affirming Schools / LGBT Bullying Prevention
Viacom International Media Networks – Nickelodeon Together for Good

Kids Public Service Announcement
Winners:
Litton Entertainment – Wounded Warriors PSA
In partnership with The Wounded Warrior Project, CBS Cares, and The Inspectors television series, this PSA airs weekly on CBS to raise awareness and enlist the public’s aid for the needs of injured service members, to help injured service members aid and assist each other.

Viacom Velocity – The Road to College PSA
The Get Schooled foundation, in partnership with Ad Council, created GetSchooled.com, a free resource for students who don’t have the necessary resources or guidance to apply to college, and worked with Viacom to deliver their message and drive people to their website. Viacom Velocity produced a PSA to air across Comedy Central, MTV, MTV2, MTVU, Spike and TV Land. Ad Council distributed the spot to media outlets nationwide.

Honorable Mentions:

Litton Entertainment – Boys and Girls Club CBS Cares
Major League Baseball – Chris Archer Spot
Optimedia – GLSEN: Safe & Affirming Schools / LGBT Bullying Prevention

Nonprofit/Corporate Partnership
Winner: Pinkwater & Putman – Fair Food Program Awareness Campaign
This campaign focused on broader consumer involvement in the program launched in 2011 by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to provide worker-driven social responsibility based on a partnership among farmworkers, Florida tomato growers and corporations including McDonald’s, Whole Foods and Walmart. Touch points included FFP labels, in-store signage, radio spots and merchandise.

Honorable Mentions:

American Heroes Channel – Red Bandanna Hero Award
Channel One News – Generation Money Campaign
Discovery Communications – Creating Change 2015 Pro Bono Marathon & Conference
National Geographic Channel – Saints & Strangers Partnership with Feeding America
Nielsen and Special Olympics – International Strategic Alliance
Science Channel – Science Channel- Support Our Science
The Dannon Company – Dannon + Feeding America = Sack Hunger
Time Warner Cable – STEM to Story, a Time Warner Cable/826 National Collaboration

Nonprofit/Corporate Partnership with a Brand
Winners:
The NASCAR Foundation’s Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award presented by Nationwide
Nationwide in 2015 joined as corporate sponsor of this award, presented to one NASCAR fan who has made a profound impact on children in his/her community. Leveraging the most popular NASCAR driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., the campaign used digital media, radio, print, social, NASCAR industry support and local market media that integrated philanthropic messaging, and Nationwide.

Pivot and Subaru – Dining Out for Life
Pivot help highlight how Subaru is raising funds and awareness in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Mondo Guerra, winner of Project Runway, joined the campaign as spokesperson in the cross-platform branded content series that celebrated the initiative and used the Guerra-designed Subaru Legacy to spark conversation.

Honorable Mentions:

Arby’s Foundation – Arby’s Foundation School’s Out, Food’s In Program
EcoMedia – EcoMedia + Volunteers of America an Impactful Nonprofit/Corporate Relationship
FedEx – FedExCup & FedEx Cares
JetBlue Airways – Dream Project Partnership
Toyota – The Toyota Effect

Partnership with a Celebrity/Athlete/Character
Winner:ESPN CreativeWorks – AT&T It Can Wait / Fletcher’s Drive
AT&T’s It Can Wait campaign sought to raise awareness that while texting and driving is still a problem, the issue includes any type of smartphone activity. AT&T partnered with ESPN to reach the demo via a multi-platform activation that shared the story of Fletcher Cleaves, a promising football player who was paralyzed when an oncoming driver, distracted from looking at their phone, drifted into Cleaves’ lane.

Honorablem Mentions:

Litton Entertainment – Game Changers with Kevin Frazier Presented by EA SPORTS
Litton Entertainment – Ocean Mysteries with Jeff Corwin
PSP Sports – Haier Achievement Awards
TakePart -Equal Playing Field

Philanthropic Campaign
Winners:
Deutsch – Art Heist for Good
In the slum of Kibera, Kenya, food and clean water are scarce, and valuable but deteriorating street art created by acclaimed French street artist and TED Prize winner JR is plentiful. WATERisLife, working with Deutsch, launched a campaign to sell the rooftops to the highest bidder and use the money for better access to clean water and sanitation or the people of Kibera. The first piece was sold in September; proceeds from that auction equaled 30 years’ worth of salary for a Kibera resident.

Nickelodeon – Get Dirty
Nick’s environmental awareness campaign encourages kids and families to take action in their communities. Launching with an interstitial during the 2015 KCAs, the partnership with the National Environmental Education Foundation centers on The Get Dirty Challenge, with a website where kids could share their videos along with tips from Nick characters.

Honorable Mentions

Blue Chalk Media – Burned Girl
Dxagency – Edgewater Strong
Goldhirsh Foundation – My LA2050 Grants Challenge
JetBlue Airways – JetBlue Soaring with Reading 2015
SapientNitro – Giving Tuesday
XFINITY from Comcast – Comcast Community Champion Award

Public Service Announcement
Winners: ESPN CreativeWorks – AT&T It Can Wait / Fletcher’s Drive
As you heard earlier, AT&T’s It Can Wait campaign sought to raise awareness that while texting and driving is still a problem, the issue includes any type of smartphone activity. AT&T partnered with ESPN to reach the demo via a multi-platform activation that shared the story of Fletcher Cleaves, a promising football player who was paralyzed when an oncoming driver, distracted from looking at their phone, drifted into Cleaves’ lane. The spot earned 1.5 million video views on Twitter opening weekend, and 100,000-plus YouTube views on YouTube in the first week.

National Basketball Association (NBA) – NBA #LeanInTogether PSA:
The NBA and WNBA worked with LeanIn.Org to launch a public service campaign featuring basketball All Stars to demonstrate how men benefit from supporting women at home and at work. NBA and Facebook collaborated on social media amplification; the PSA was broadcast across ESPN, ABC, Turner and NBA TV. Social media activity included participation from more than 80 NBA & WNBA players, and influencers including Beyonce, Hugh Jackman, Oprah and Lena Dunham. The campaign reached an estimated 460 million people on social media.
Honorable Mentions:

Discovery Channel – Change the Tide :15 PSA
Major League Baseball – SU2C – “Pearl”
MSNBC – MSNBC + Global Citizen Festival
Nat Geo WILD – Big Cat Week PSA “Fancy Cats”
SpikeTV – Celeb PSA
TLC – PACER’s PSA with Stacy London
Viacom Velocity – The Real Cost

Social Good Leaders of the Year
Winner: EcoMedia – Paul Polizzotto, Social Entrepreneur + Social Good Leader
EcoMedia’s Paul Polizzotto enables corporate advertising dollars to support nonprofits. Under his leadership, EcoMedia and its partner have generated tens of millions of dollars for 150 organizations including Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Fisher House Foundation, Ronald McDonald House Charities, and National Recreation and Park Association. His latest innovation is Viewers to Volunteers (V2V), the digital “giving platform” that’s already generated more than $600,000 for affiliated nonprofits.

Honorable Mentions:

BET Networks – Nneka Norville
CMT (Country Music Television) – CMT Public Affairs
Litton Entertainment – Rocky Kanaka
Nickelodeon – Get Dirty
Reelio – Ava Kelly, Sr. Director Reelio Cares
Reelio – Pete Borum, CEO
Situation Interactive – Damian Bazadona

Social Good Shining Sports Stars
Winner: FOX Sports – FOX Sports Supports
FOX uses its multimedia channels to support Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Stand Up To Cancer and AYSO (American Youth Soccer Organization), as well as other initiatives including Folds of Honor, American Heart Assn., Movember Foundation and the USGA’s water conservation efforts. Fox Sports Supports is integrated into FOX Sports programming including PSAs, in-game reads and pins appearing across networks and sports such as NASCAR MLB, soccer; golf, and college football and basketball.

Honorable Mentions:

National Basketball Association (NBA) – NBA Cares
Whistle Sports
WWE – WWE Overall CSR Work

Social Good Shining Stars
Winners:
Participant Media
In 2015, Participant Media released films, original programs and special event content that highlight social issues including sexual abuse, girls’ education, climate change, and wildlife protection. Its Advocacy and Social Impact team works with more than 140 NGOs including a social media effort that created an official Twibbon as well as a petition with more than 1 million signatures inspired by The Cove to the White House, aimed to end dolphin slaughter.

Univision Communications Inc. – Univision Farmacia
UCI launched the first free Hispanic focused medical prescription discount program, in partnership with EnvisionRxOptions and HolaDoctor. The program also allows consumers to opt-in to receive monthly newsletters that educate them on diverse health topics in the language they prefer. Program partners include the Mexican Consulates in the US, Autism Speaks, Sinai Health and the Employee Association of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

Honorable Mentions:

A+E Networks – FYI’s Tiny House Nation: Welcome Home
American Heroes Channel – Red Bandanna Hero Award
Entertain Impact – Entertainment for a Cause!
Good Amplified – The only MCN exclusively servicing NonProfits
Reelio – Reelio Cares
Twin Cities PBS – SciGirls
Viacom International Media Networks – Nickelodeon Together for Good

Social Media Campaign or Initiative
Winner: MTV – Rebel Music: Native America
The premiere episode of Rebel Music, MTV’s first long-form Facebook premiere, shared the lives of indigenous people of one of the world’s leading nations who’ve been suffering in obscurity and facing challenges including a suicide rate four times the national average. The story of Native youth trying to rewrite their own narrative & went viral, breaking records with 4.8mill FB views.

Honorable Mentions:

Discovery Channel – Shark Week Finbassador Instagram Takeovers
OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network – #Beliefin3words
TLC – Share and Give Video

YouTube Promotion
Winner: Reelio – Leaders for #4Liters
This ambitious campaign sought to increase awareness about access to clean water by recruiting people to live off of 4 liters of water for an entire day – and then post about it on social media. Reelio partnered with DigDeep to develop a YouTube Strategy featuring YT Influencers including Shameless Maya and Taryn Southern.

Honorable Mentions: