NAMM Announces Second Annual 'Wanna Play?' Award Recipients

With the announcement of its second annual Wanna Play? awards, seven companies were honored this week by NAMM, the trade association for the international music products industry, for promoting music making in their product advertising and promotional efforts. The non-music companies used playing an instrument to convey messages of hope, excitement, coolness and desire.

The Wanna Play? Awards are an extension of NAMM’s Wanna Play? campaign, a public awareness initiative designed to inspire people of all ages to become active music makers, from taking lessons to purchasing their first instrument or software. NAMM recognized major non-music industry companies that have encouraged people to pursue—or perhaps revisit—their passion for playing an instrument through their promotion of products or initiatives.

“It is great to see companies from numerous industries using making music to help convey positive messages in their promotional efforts,” said Joe Lamond, president and CEO, NAMM. “Playing a musical instrument has so many health and social benefits for people of all ages. More and more, we are seeing companies turn to the power of music to show an enriched lifestyle and sense of hope.”

The winners of the 2007 Wanna Play? Awards are Budweiser, Clorox, Converse, GE, Kaiser Permanente, Proctor & Gamble and Pfizer. Their efforts promoted a range of products, from household cleaners to pharmaceuticals, but they all shared the idea that making music can be a part of everyone’s life, in both big and small ways.

Kaiser Permanente, for example, ran a television advertisement in California to promote its Thrive campaign. Titled “Saturday,” it features a woman who is undergoing chemotherapy and who, despite this great challenge, makes a conscious decision to embrace life and pursue a never-explored passion: learning to play the guitar. The ad ends with her buying a guitar and getting ready to start a healthy hobby that helps reduce stress, initiates creativity and feeds a passion for life.

Also honored was Clorox, for its online advertisement “Drum.” The ad promotes Clorox Disinfecting Cleaners, and features a young baby who turns the kitchen garbage can into a makeshift drum—which shows that everyone can start making music at any age, whether the person is 8 months or 80 years.

Converse’s national television advertisement “Three Chords” also highlights children’s natural enthusiasm for making music. It features Sophie, the 12-year-old lead singer and guitarist of a hot new punk band called Care Bears on Fire, performing their song “Everybody Else.” The ad tells viewers: “Learn three chords. You’ll know 1,000 songs” – reminding kids, adults and seniors alike that we all can start to make music today. The ad was so popular that it was posted on www.youtube.com and has received a steady stream of compliments from aspiring adult and youth musicians who were inspired by Sophie’s performance. Care Bears on Fire joined NAMM to celebrate the 106th Annual NAMM Show, January 17–20 in Anaheim, by rocking out on stage at the show in front of hundreds of musicians.

The 2007 Wanna Play? Award winners are:
 

• Budweiser – honored for its Budweiser Select print ad featuring a series of guitars as the backdrop for the brand’s classic slogan
• Clorox – honored for its Online ad “Drum,” featuring a baby who channels his inner drummer on a kitchen garbage can
• Converse – honored for its “Three Chords” ad, featuring Care Bears on Fire’s young lead singer and guitarist
• Kaiser Permanente – honored for its television ad “Saturday,” featuring a cancer patient who learns to play guitar as her way of embracing life
• GE – honored for its television ad “Locomotive,” featuring engine manufacturers and end-users singing and making music as a homage to GE’s products
• Proctor & Gamble – honored for its television advertisement featuring a sister who declares she will play the guitar as long as the fresh scent of Febreeze lasts
• Pfizer – honored for its “Viva Viagra” television and online ads, featuring a group of middle-aged “weekend warriors” who get together to jam and live out their rock star fantasies to the music of Elvis Presley

NAMM announced the winners of the 2007 Wanna Play? Awards at the 106th Annual NAMM Show, which was held January 17–20, 2008, in Anaheim, Calif.