American public service announcement campaign
The More You Know
is a series of
public service announcements
(PSAs) broadcast on the
NBCUniversal
family of networks in the United States and other locations, featuring educational messages. These PSAs are broadcast occasionally during NBC's network programming.
The spots feature personalities from various
NBC
shows, as well as other notable figures such as
U.S. Presidents
.
Tom Brokaw
was the first person to do
The More You Know
spot; it aired on
NBC
in September 1989, succeeding the
One to Grow On
PSAs that were used from 1983 to 1989.
El Poder de Saber
(
The Power of Knowledge
) is
The More You Know'
s sister campaign on
Telemundo
. While the other U.S. broadcast networks have similar campaigns, namely
CBS Cares
,
Disney
-
ABC
's
Be Inspired
, and
PBS
's
Be More
, NBC's
The More You Know
is likely the most well-known.
History
[
edit
]
A senior executive at NBC, Dr. Rosalyn Weinman, developed the campaign and wrote most of the on-air PSAs after putting an advisory council together. She ran the campaign for 10 years. The first "comet trail" star logo was designed by Steve Bernstein and later produced by Paul Johnson on an animation stand using a
slit-scan
technique at
R/Greenberg Associates
(now R/GA Digital Studios) in Manhattan. They were later updated using
three-dimensional computer graphics
.
The More You Know
program won a
Peabody Award
in 1993 for serving as "a model national public service campaign to provide a range of useful information to its vast television audience."
[1]
The campaign has featured a range of guests over the years, including
Amy Poehler
,
Joan Rivers
,
Jack McBrayer
,
Steve Harvey
,
Anjelica Huston
,
Questlove
, and
Jimmy Fallon
.
[2]
Several past U.S. Presidents have also participated in the campaign, including
Bill Clinton
,
George H. W. Bush
,
[3]
and
Barack Obama
, who encouraged parents to be more involved in their children's education, while then-First Lady
Michelle Obama
worked to promote the prevention of
childhood obesity
.
[4]
The show has also featured
Jonathan Brandis
.
On February 24, 2016, NBC announced that it would launch a new Saturday morning
E/I
block
named after the campaign, programmed by
Litton Entertainment
and replacing its in-house
NBC Kids
block.
[5]
Parodies
[
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]
The campaign has been widely parodied, with references in
Will & Grace
,
30 Rock
,
American Dad!
,
Family Guy
,
[6]
Drawn Together
,
Scrubs
, recurring parodies on
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
, a running segment on
The Daily Show
called "The Less You Know", and an April 2006 series of NBC-produced mock PSAs starring the cast of
The Office
. A sketch on
Saturday Night Live
portrayed the sometimes-fatal effects of
CPR
.
[7]
A parody was also shown on
MADtv
, mentioning the "[nonexistent] danger of
conga lines
", and another one that spouted random obvious facts.
Spliced
has a parody of public-service announcements in general (and
The More You Know
in particular), in brief segments called "Knowing is Growing".
[
citation needed
]
During the
Super Bowl XLIX halftime show
(which itself was broadcast by NBC),
Katy Perry
closed her performance with a rendition of "
Firework
" while riding on a shooting star; following the show, comparisons were drawn to the former logo of
The More You Know
, as captured by user-created edits of photos from the scene.
[8]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Rodney King Coverage Wins a Peabody Award"
.
The New York Times
. April 3, 1993.
ISSN
0362-4331
. Archived from
the original
on March 9, 2017
. Retrieved
March 9,
2017
.
- ^
Megan Garber (September 16, 2014).
"
'The More You Know': There's More to Know"
. The Atlantic
. Retrieved
January 25,
2017
.
- ^
"Family Of Stars"
. The More You Know
. Retrieved
July 23,
2010
.
- ^
Ariens, Chris (April 16, 2011).
"New Look, New Faces for 'The More You Know'
"
.
AdWeek
. Retrieved
January 25,
2017
.
- ^
"NBC, Litton Partner on 'The More You Know' Block"
.
Broadcasting & Cable
. February 24, 2016
. Retrieved
February 24,
2016
.
- ^
poopertin11 (June 26, 2014),
Family Guy - The More You Know
,
archived
from the original on December 22, 2021
, retrieved
September 21,
2016
{{
citation
}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
link
)
- ^
Watch Saturday Night Live Episodes, Clips, and Interviews | Fancast
- ^
Michelle Steiner, Amanda (February 2, 2015).
"Exploring Katy Perry's Super Bowl Half-Time Show in Memes"
.
People
. Retrieved
February 3,
2015
.
External links
[
edit
]