Stand up to Cancer: Proof that Hollywood has a heart

As last Friday night’s star-studded “Stand up to Cancer” showed, Hollywood often comes out in full regalia to save lives. In the case of cancer all three major networks simultaneously aired a commercial-free, hour long telethon fundraiser featuring 60 celebs, many of whom are cancer survivors. The goal was not only to raise money for new research and experimental therapies, resulting in an astounding $100 million, but also to raise public awareness about prevention and treatments on the horizon.

But it doesn’t take overt actions like “Stand up to Cancer” for Hollywood to educate the public about health issues.

According to a survey of prime-time TV viewers conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a majority of viewers report picking up health information from prime time TV shows, and 1 in 4 say that these shows are among their top three sources for health information. These are shows like “ER” and “Law and Order” that are intended to entertain but can also educate.

So many causes are working directly with Hollywood to get out their message.

One of the first successful partnerships with Hollywood was the Designated Driver Campaign, which focused on promoting health messages in prime time programming. During the 1988-1992 TV seasons, more than 160 prime time shows such as “The Cosby Show,” “Cheers” and “L.A. Law,” included subplots and scenes devoted to designating a driver. By 1990, public opinion polls indicated that 9 in 10 adults and virtually all young adults were familiar with the designated driver concept and in 1991 the term “designated driver” was included in the dictionary.

KNOW HIV/AIDS is a public education initiative between Viacom and the Kaiser Family Foundation to de-stigmatize testing and encourage people to protect themselves. Viacom committed $600 million in media value to the campaign, including public service announcements and storylines in popular television programming on CBS and other Viacom stations. When CBS's The Bold and The Beautiful developed a storyline about “Tony's HIV" and aired a Public Service Announcement with Tony that included an 800-number, the PSA contributed to the largest spike in callers to the CDC's national AIDS hotline for the entire year.