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The '''Ad Council''' is a nonprofit organization of advertising companies founded to enhance public opinions of advertising and co-opt liberal opposition by using spare advertising space to promote liberal and patriotic causes. :"A nonprofit organization that brings together the government, the media, corporate sponsors, and the advertising industry. Originally known as the "War Advertising Council" following the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Ad Council has subsequently devised campaigns that encourage people in the United States to vote, use zip codes. participate in the census and join the National Guard and Reserve. It hs introduced familiar icons into the American consciousness including Smokey the Bear, McGruff the Crime Dog and the crash-test dummies, and has added memorable slogans to our vocabulary including "Friends don't let friends drive dunk" and the United Negro College Fund's "a mind is a terrible thing to waste."" (from [[Weapons of Mass Deception]]) After the September 11 attacks, the Ad Council ran ads promoting "Freedom" which touted how certain things couldn't happen in a free country like America. However, some noted that the actions in one ad bore an eery similarity to things now permitted under the USA PATRIOT Act. A law passed, of course, to protect the freedoms the ad claims we should cherish. This is not the first time the Ad Council has done this: :[I]n 1947, along with the [[Attorney General of the United States]] and the [[American Heritage Foundation]], the council launched its "[[American Heritage]]" campaign. Its purpose was to increase citizens' awareness and exercise of their individual rights, liberties, and duties lest external or internal enemies steal them away (even as the Supreme Court, extending a series of decisions begun in the First World War, maintained limits on the right to free speech, particularly political speech [48]). :[48] ... Schneck ... Frohwerk ... Debs ... Abrams ... right to free speech is not absolute ... prohibited obstruction of military recruitment ... [and] resist[ing] conscription ... prohibiting advocacy of the violent overthrow of the U.S. government, the organization of groups for that purpose, and knowing membership in such groups ... a weapon to combat alleged Communist Party activity. (Robert Jackall and Janice M. Hirota, ''Image Makers'', 49) ''See also:'' [[Terrorism Information and Prevention System]] == References == * Robert Jackall and Janice M. Hirota, ''The Image Makers: Advertising, Public Relations, and the Ethos of Advocacy'' (University of Chicago, 2000). ISBN 0226389162 (paperback: ISBN 0226389170) == External links Contact details== * [The Advertising Council, Inc. <br>261 Madison Avenue, 11th Floor<br>New York, NY 10016<br>Phone: (212) 922-1500<br>Fax: (212) 922-1676<br>Web: http://adcouncil.org/ Official website]