Campaign for UAB launches three new TV spots

On the heels of reaching the halfway point of its ambitious $1 billion fundraising goal, UAB’s compelling “Give Something, Change Everything” TV spots highlight diverse initiatives.

With three little words — “Let’s do this” — new television spots for The Campaign for UAB: Give Something, Change Everything encourage viewers to see themselves as part of a team that can forge opportunities, spark creativity, devise solutions, create cures and transform ideas into businesses.

The :30-second spots, which will air through Thanksgiving in the Birmingham market, have a decidedly local origin. They were filmed on campus and produced by The Campaign for UAB co-chair Theresa Bruno using local talent, and the score for the spots was created by jazz guitarist and UAB artist-in-residence Eric Essix. UAB President Ray L. Watts, M.D., and School of Medicine Dean and Senior Vice President of Medicine Selwyn Vickers, M.D., each make an appearance.

The new spots are complemented by an online advertising campaign illustrating ways gifts can: change lives through education and outreach, build a better world through innovation and entrepreneurship, advance knowledge through discovery and creativity, and accelerate breakthroughs through research and patient care.

“There are many ways you can increase UAB’s extraordinary impact by supporting this campaign, and these spots show several important initiatives you can accelerate through support,” UAB President Ray L. Watts said. “When you give to UAB, you help us change our community and our world for the better, whether by finding the cure for a disease, enabling a bright young person to go to college or lighting the spark for a new innovation.”

The timing of this advertising campaign coincides with the approaching one-year mark of the public phase of the $1 billion comprehensive campaign, which recently surpassed the halfway mark of $500 million. The campaign will run through 2018.

That UAB affects more than 60,000 jobs statewide, has an annual economic impact exceeding $5 billion, and is responsible for educating students and making groundbreaking discoveries, as well as saving and improving lives, provides a unique opportunity for The Campaign for UAB.

“There is truly something everyone can passionately support at UAB, and these spots give just a taste of some of those diverse opportunities,” said UAB Vice President Shirley Salloway Kahn, Ph.D. “A list of available funds can be searched on the campaign’s What do you want to change today? Web page, and we can work with donors to identify new opportunities that fit their interests.”

To learn more about The Campaign for UAB: Give Something, Change Everything, follow its progress or give, visit uab.edu/campaign.