The Ad Council Kicks off "Project Yellow Light" Scholarship Competition to Prevent Texting & Driving

PRNewswire 17-Jan-2019 8:24 AM

NEW YORK, Jan. 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Ad Council and Project Yellow Light announced the opening of the eighth annual Project Yellow Light scholarship competition. The contest invites high school and college students nationwide to create a TV, radio or billboard PSA to educate their peers about the dangers of distracted driving, specifically texting and driving. Submissions are due March 1 (billboard) and April 1 (radio and video), and winners receive scholarship funding and the opportunity for national media exposure for their winning entries.

This year, AT&T's It Can Wait and Apparent Insurance are supporting the initiative, joining longstanding funding, media distribution and issue expertise partners CBS 2 New York, Clear Channel Outdoor (CCO), iHeartMedia, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the National Organizations for Youth Safety (NOYS). CBS 2 New York has also created a TV spot to promote the competition, featuring anchor Alex Denis, which can be viewed here.

Project Yellow Light was established in 2007 by the family of Hunter Garner to honor his memory after his death in a car crash at age 16.

"We're excited to be entering our eighth year of this national competition with our amazing partners; and even more so by the addition of two noteworthy new alliances - AT&T's It Can Wait and Apparent Insurance," said Julie Garner, founder of Project Yellow Light. "These relationships will significantly amplify our reach and help us save more lives."

Key facts about Project Yellow Light 2019:

• Billboard submissions are due March 1; radio and video submissions are due April 1
• High school juniors, seniors, and undergraduate college students are eligible to apply
• All winners receive scholarship money; first-place winners are awarded $5,000 for video and $2,000 for billboard and radio
• Winning submissions may be turned into public service advertisements (PSAs) and distributed nationwide on iHeartMedia broadcast radio stations, Clear Channel Outdoor billboards, and approximately 1,600 TV stations. 

For full submission guidelines and official rules, visit ProjectYellowLight.com.

Last year, the contest received more than 1,600 submissions from 49 states and Washington, D.C. The winning TV PSAs can be viewed online here.

Since 2011, Project Yellow Light has partnered with the Ad Council to turn the winning student submissions into PSAs that receive nationwide exposure through 1,600 TV stations, across iHeartRadio broadcast radio stations and over 1,200 Clear Channel Outdoor digital billboards.

"Project Yellow Light makes it possible for young people to develop creative that reaches their peers with this critical message on a national scale," said Lisa Sherman, President and CEO of the Ad Council. "We're thrilled to welcome AT&T's It Can Wait and Apparent Insurance to this extraordinary coalition."

"Since 2010, our It Can Wait program has raised awareness of the dangers of smartphone use while driving and helped curb these dangerous habits," said Ryan Luckey, AVP of Corporate Brand Marketing at AT&T. "Project Yellow Light shares this commitment and we look forward to joining and supporting those who are using their voice to combat distracted driving."

"Apparent Insurance is excited to be a sponsor of the 2019 Project Yellow Light scholarship competition," said Colleen Benzin, Managing Director of Apparent Insurance.  "As an auto insurer designed for parents, by parents, we support the Project Yellow Light mission to engage young adults about the dangers of distracted driving. Our hope is that this partnership leads to safer drivers and safer roads for the families we serve."

"People who use cellphones more frequently while driving may be riskier drivers in other respects," said Heidi King, NHTSA Deputy Administrator. "Multiple studies find that drivers increase their risk of a crash when they choose to engage in distracting activities that require them to take their eyes off the road, such as using a handheld cell phone, reading or writing, or using touchscreen menus on a vehicle instrument pane. Some studies find that drivers engage in some type of distracting activity more than 50 percent of the time they are driving."

Data Source:  https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812603

About Project Yellow Light 
Project Yellow Light is a film, billboard and radio scholarship competition in which high school and college students create compelling stories persuading their peers to develop safe driving habits. This project gives students a voice and a role in preventing car crashes — the number one killer of teenagers and young adults in the U.S. Project Yellow Light was created by Julie, Lowell and Alex Garner in memory of their son/brother, Hunter, who died tragically in a car crash in 2007. Each year the winners receive the Hunter Garner Scholarship.

About the Ad Council
The Ad Council is a nonprofit organization with a rich history of marshaling volunteer talent from the advertising and media industries to deliver crucial messages to the American public. Having produced literally thousands of PSA campaigns addressing the most pressing social issues of the day, the Ad Council has effected, and continues to effect, tremendous positive change by raising awareness, inspiring action and saving lives. To learn more about the Ad Council and its campaigns, visit AdCouncil.org, like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or view our PSAs on YouTube.

About AT&T 
We help family, friends and neighbors connect in meaningful ways every day. From the first phone call 140+ years ago to mobile video streaming, we innovate to improve lives. We have the best network according to America's biggest test.** We're building FirstNet just for first responders and creating next-generation mobile 5G. With DIRECTV and DIRECTV NOW, we deliver entertainment people love to talk about. Our smart, highly secure solutions serve over 3 million global businesses – nearly all of the Fortune 1000. And worldwide, our spirit of service drives employees to give back to their communities.

AT&T Communications is part of AT&T Inc. ((T). Learn more at att.com/CommunicationsNews.

AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc. Additional information about AT&T products and services is available at about.att.com. Follow our news on Twitter at @ATT, on Facebook at facebook.com/att and on YouTube at youtube.com/att.

© 2018 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT&T, the Globe logo and other marks are trademarks and service marks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies. All other marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners. **Based on GWS OneScore Sept. 2018. Excludes crowd sourced studies.

About CBS 2 NY
WCBS-TV and WLNY-TV are part of CBS Television Stations group, a division of CBS Corporation and one of the largest network-owned station groups in the country. The combined strengths of CBS 2 and WLNY 10/55 provide a strong platform for serving the entire tri-state area.

About Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. 
Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCO) is one of the world's largest outdoor advertising companies with over 450,000 displays in 31 countries across Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America. Reaching millions of people monthly, including consumers in 44 of the top 50 U.S. markets, Clear Channel Outdoor enables advertisers to engage with consumers through innovative advertising solutions. Clear Channel Outdoor is pioneering the integration of out-of-home with mobile and social platforms, and the company's digital platform includes more than 1,200 digital billboards across 28 markets in the U.S. and more than 13,000 digital displays in international markets. More information is available at http://www.clearchanneloutdoor.com. 

About Apparent Insurance
Apparent Insurance is making the lives of parents and families easier and safer by delivering a better auto insurance experience. Apparent's coverage protects families throughout life's stages with features, benefits, discounts, and services that are tailored to the lives of all parents. Fully backed and secured by parent company, Admiral Group, which oversees over 6 million customers across 7 countries, Apparent Insurance is currently available to consumers across the state of Texas, with additional states being announced soon. Learn more about Apparent Insurance at http://www.apparentinsurance.com and connect on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @ApparentInsurance.

About iHeartMedia
iHeartMedia is the number one audio company in the United States, reaching nine out of 10 Americans every month – and with its quarter of a billion monthly listeners, has a greater reach than any other media company in the U.S. The company's leadership position in audio extends across multiple platforms including 850 live broadcast stations; streaming music, radio and on demand via its iHeartRadio digital service available across more than 250 platforms and 2,000 devices including smart speakers, digital auto dashes, tablets, wearables, smartphones, virtual assistants, TVs and gaming consoles; through its influencers; social; branded iconic live music events; and podcasts as the #1 commercial podcast publisher globally. iHeartMedia also leads the audio industry in analytics and attribution technology for its marketing partners, using data from its massive consumer base. iHeartMedia is a division of iHeartMedia, Inc. (OTC:IHRTQ). Visit iHeartMedia.com for more company information.

About the National Organizations for Youth Safety 
NOYS was originally founded in 1995 as the Traffic Safety Collaboration supported by funding from government agencies, including the Department of Transportation. In 2005, NOYS became a 501(c)(3) organization and incorporated as National Organizations for Youth Safety. With over 100 organizational members - youth-serving nonprofits, businesses and government agencies, NOYS works collectively to address the most prevalent causes of injury and death among teens and young adults in the US. Learn more at www.NOYS.org.

About NHTSA
For more than four decades, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has served as the key federal agency charged with improving safety on our nation's roadways. As part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, NHTSA is working to reduce traffic-related deaths and injuries by promoting the use of safety belts and child safety seats; helping states and local communities address the threat of distracted, drunk and drug-impaired drivers; regulating safety standards and investigating safety defects in motor vehicles; establishing and enforcing fuel economy standards; conducting research on driver behavior and traffic safety; and providing consumer information on issues ranging from child passenger safety to impaired driving. For more information visit www.nhtsa.gov.

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SOURCE Clear Channel Outdoor; Ad Council