There’s nothing unusual about agency creatives doing pro bono work, but few, if any, have taken it to the level that a couple of creative directors have at GSD&M, Austin, Texas.
In ’96, Daniel Clay Russ and Brent Ladd, who are GSD&M’s senior VPs/creative directors, formed The Peace Council, a nonprofit foundation that produces commercials and print ads that help raise awareness about issues of social consequence.
The organization has been receiving accolades for "Power Lock," a PSA directed by Peter Darley Miller of Stiefel + Company, Santa Monica, that deals with subtle forms of racism. The PSA was also featured in "The Best Work You May Never See" gallery. (SHOOT, 1/21) The Peace Council recently brought in its first paying client, The Texas Travis County Child Advocacy Center, which is raising funds to build a shelter for abused children. "We pitched against some other agencies and actually won it," says Russ.
Previous work, including "Power Lock," was done with donated time and contributions from civic-minded benefactors, Russ and Ladd explain. "About four years ago, I created a campaign to stop the proliferation of land mines," says Russ. "We were the first domestic entity to do that. We then formed a foundation, whose charter is to do advertising for causes, free or paid."
The landmines campaign started with print, but a more recent TV spot, "Hole," ran up costs of about $6,000, which the Peace Council didn’t have. "I went to a benefactor and said, ‘Here’s the spot, do you like it? It cost me six thousand dollars to do it, but if you pay the Peace Council this exact number, it’s one hundred percent tax deductible.’ So he wrote the check and took the write-off, and the Peace Council issued a check for the same amount to the production company," Russ says. The spot was the maiden effort of director Dennis Fagan of Dennis Fagan Studios, Austin, and also received recognition in "The Best Work You May Never See" gallery. (SHOOT, 4/14)
