Special Olympics Launches Public Service Announcements for 2007 Games

Special Olympics Launches Public Service Announcements for 2007 Games

July 21, 2006

Special Olympics Global Ambassador Yao Ming joins launch to help promote environment of support, inclusion and acceptance for people with intellectual disabilities

    BEIJING, July 21 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- The 2007
Special Olympics World Games Executive Committee launched a
series of public service announcements (PSA) today at the
Beijing Millennium Monument.  Through these PSAs, themed
"Our Children", the 2007 Special Olympics World
Games Executive Committee is reaching out to people from
all walks of life to encourage support and participation
for the 2007 Special Olympics Games.

    (Logo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040302/LNTU017LOGO 
          
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060410/CNM006LOGO )

    Secretary-general of the 2007 Special Olympics World
Games Steering Committee, and Deputy Secretary-general of
the Shanghai Municipal Government, Mr. Yao Mingbao said,
"The SO athletes appearing in this video clip are
ordinary members of the society, yet they represent a group
that needs more care and support from others. In sports,
they realize their own values and display to us their
courage, confidence and perseverance that reflect the SO
spirit. I hope and I believe that this promotion campaign
will further enhance the public awareness of social
responsibilities and engage more people in SO movement and
the welfare cause of people with intellectual
disabilities."

    Yao Ming, the 2007 Special Olympics ambassador and
well-known basketball player, along with ten other Chinese
celebrities, attended the press conference to support
Special Olympics.  Together with Special Olympics athletes,
the celebrities kicked off the PSA launch ceremony.   

    The "Our Children" PSAs, created and produced
by 4A advertising company Grey Global, focus on depicting
the potential of Special Olympics athletes and
demonstrating their resilience and the self-confidence
gained from participation in Special Olympics. Based on
real life stories of athletes, each of the three PSAs
features a Special Olympics competition.    

    The 2007 Summer Olympics Games will be held in Shanghai
in October 2007.  With over 170 countries expected to
participate, the Games will be China's largest
international sports event to date. 

    The 2006 summer Special Olympics PSAs will be released
to the public soon.

    For more information, please contact:

     Helen Shu, 
     Corporate Communications Manager
     Ogilvy Publication Relations Worldwide
     Tel:   [phone]
     Fax:   [phone] 
     Email: [e-mail]

SOURCE  Special Olympics