Swine Flu, PBS, and Hasbro

The Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) joins the Ad Council and Sesame Workshop to launch a national public service advertising campaign designed to encourage US families and kids to take simple steps to protect themselves from the 2009 H1N1 flu virus and continue to practice healthy habits.  As part of HHS and the Ad Council's campaign, Sesame Workshop produced a TV PSA featuring Sesame Street's Elmo and Gordon explaining the importance of healthy habits including washing your hands, avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth and sneezing into the bend of your arm.  An extension of Sesame's Healthy Habits for Life initiative, the PSAs direct viewers to go to www.cdc.gov for information on how to stay healthy.  The Ad Council is distributing the PSAs to TV stations nationwide.

Hasbro and Discovery Communications complete Hasbro's purchase of a 50% interest in a joint venture that holds the Discovery Kids Network in the US.  Hasbro and Discovery plan for the joint venture to create a re-branded kid's/family entertainment aimed TV network.  Slated to launch in late 2010, the network will feature content based on Hasbro's portfolio of properties, and content from Discovery's extensive library kid's programming, as well as programming from third-party producers.