Just as Americans focus on New Year’s resolutions and the positive changes they can make in their own lives, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation (DGLF) and the Ad Council are releasing a new public service advertisements (PSAs) that demonstrate how getting a high school equivalency (e.g. GED or HiSET) can have a positive, lasting impression on an entire family or community. The film was produced by Mofilm, a creative content agency that excels at authentically telling real people’s real stories. Their role beyond the end-to-end production was creatively developing the concept and sourcing the talent – a recent graduate with a real story that perfectly reflected the campaign narrative and goals.
The latest work turns the concept of a yearbook on its head when Ariel who got his high school equivalency with the support of an adult literacy center at age 22, is surprised and presented with a personalized yearbook with messages from his support network – friends, family and teachers. This yearbook is distinct as it celebrates not only Ariel’s accomplishment, but some of the people who will be positively impacted by his hard work and dedication. The story encourages adults without their high school diploma to take the first step towards achieving this goal.
“When you have a job and are trying to raise children, it’s difficult to find the time to take adult education classes,” said Heidi Arthur, Ad Council Chief Campaign Development Officer. “But when you succeed by getting your diploma, the change it creates empowers everyone around you, whether that’s your colleague or your child, to achieve a higher-level success themselves.”
More than 29 million adults in the United States do not have a high school diploma, which means they are more likely to experience higher rates of unemployment and lower wages.[1] A major barrier to getting a high school diploma as an adult is upsetting the balance at home as well as not knowing where or how to start the process. However, the Finish Your Diploma campaign makes it easier to take that first step by finding a nearby, free adult education center using the zip code search tool on FinishYourDiploma.org. Adult education centers across the country are there to help students achieve their education goals in a manner that helps them balance the complexities of work, home, and instructional preferences, including flexible schedules, one on one tutoring, and offering classes in Spanish to support adult learners who speak English as a second language.
“We are proud to partner with the Ad Council and Mofilm to share Ariel’s story and inspire others to pursue their educational goals and dreams,” shared Denine Torr, executive director of the Dollar General Literacy Foundation. “The new ads beautifully capture the power of education to unlock one’s potential, open doorways to new opportunities and extend hope for a brighter future.”
The new “Yearbook” PSAs will run in English and Spanish across multiple platforms, including television, radio, online and print.
“We are thrilled to be a part of this collaboration with the Dollar General Literacy Foundation and Ad Council in creating this new PSA– a testament to our shared commitment to empowering adults on their educational journey,” said Lee Margolis, G-ECD at Mofilm. “Working with the talented creative teams and applying our process of carefully curating talent 360 degrees around the camera, our goal was not only to capture the essence of personal triumph, but also to remind everyone that it’s never too late to embrace the transformative power of education in the community.”
The Finish Your Diploma campaign is a longstanding, successful collaboration between DGLF and the Ad Council. Since the original campaign launched in 2010, it has connected over 2 million Americans with the information needed to sign up for free adult education classes at FinishYourDiploma.org.
