Cartoon Network, joining forces with Turner Network Sales for the second year
of the annual "Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF" promotion, this time will use
Codename: Kids Next Door to get youngsters more involved in that
fund-raiser at their schools.
Cartoon vice president of trade marketing Tom Alexander said the network
decided that the Kids series -- about "a band of kids representing a
multicultural cross-section, going on missions" -- meshed nicely with the
Trick-or-Treat campaign's teamwork concept. Last year, Cartoon's customizable
public-service announcements featured characters from several series.
In the upcoming taggable PSAs, characters from Kids -- the network's
top-rated original series -- will urge viewers to talk with teachers and parents
about supporting UNICEF.
In another change, Cartoon -- which indicated that the UNICEF promotion to
date has raised more than $118 million for food, medicine and education in the
developing world -- is helping the organization to push further into the
educational sector by moving beyond in-school posters to adding a
curriculum-based K-12 program.
A total of 46% of the funds raised in the familiar orange Trick-or-Treat
donation boxes last year came from schools, Cartoon marketing manager Nicole
Hall said.
To reach the educators, Cartoon will advertise in Cable in the Classroom's
magazine and on the Turner Learning Web site (www.turnerlearning.com), she added.
