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COMEDY CENTRAL� CLEANS UP ITS ACT AND STARTS TO ADDRESS THE MESS WITH PRO-SOCIAL INITIATIVE GEARED TO REDUCING WASTE AND REVIVING THE PLANET
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Network To Launch Public Service Announcements, A Comprehensive Digital Media Site,
Recycling Components Of Its COMEDY CENTRAL Live Stand-up Tours
And Produce First Carbon Neutral "Roast"
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First Stage Of Campaign To Focus On E-Ware Recycling,
Proper Waste Disposal And Fossil Fuel Emissions
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Will Partner With Experts Including The Natural Resources Defense Council, Earth 911 And GreenDimes
To Educate And Provide Real, Tactical Ways To Take Action
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NEW YORK, August 13, 2007 -- Now that Pluto is gone as a back-up, COMEDY CENTRAL is poised to step up and Address the Mess. The network has launched a new pro-social campaign committed to showing viewers easy ways to reduce waste, improve their lives and help revive the planet, it was announced today by Michele Ganeless, executive vice president and general manager for COMEDY CENTRAL, part of Viacom's (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B) MTV Networks.
The first phase of Address the Mess features a Public Service Announcement (PSA) campaign designed to introduce the initiative and prompt a call-to-action to visit AddressTheMess.com, an engaging, interactive and educational Web site that will inform visitors on a variety of environmental issues and provide links to partner sites such as the Natural Resources Defense Council, Earth 911 and GreenDimes that offer specific information about what people can do and how they can effect change by providing real, tactical ways to take action.
"Address the Mess takes on a critical issue at a critical time with a flexible and far-reaching approach," said Ganeless. "The Address the Mess message will extend across multiple COMEDY CENTRAL platforms and will support people looking to make a difference not just on the national and global scale, but on an individual level and in their own communities."
"A lot of people in the COMEDY CENTRAL audience want to do their part; they just aren�t sure where to begin. We want to help them find that starting point and inspire and move others to act as well," said Kelleigh Dulany, vice president, public responsibility, COMEDY CENTRAL and Spike TV. "Environment concerns are especially relevant to our audience and we've made the message of this initiative accessible to them by putting it in the unique COMEDY CENTRAL voice. We can be direct and concise without appearing pushy or preachy."
Address the Mess aims to help individuals identify their own carbon footprint and offer information on how to reduce it. Visitors to AddressTheMess.com will be invited to take a quiz to determine how large or small of an impact their footprint makes. Specific area of focus will be education on proper trash disposal of household items, motor oil and e-ware (COMEDY CENTRAL's audience has one of the largest concentration of early-adopters to the latest and greatest gadgets -- what's the best way to dispose of that six-month old cell phone they now consider hopelessly outdated?), as well as ways to reduce the amount of junk mail cluttering mailboxes and claiming trees. Also on a personal and local level, Address the Mess will encourage action with community clean-up projects and the revitalization of neighborhoods and historic venues.
Along with its presence on-air and online, COMEDY CENTRAL will spread the message of Address the Mess through the network's successful COMEDY CENTRAL Live stand-up tours, beginning with a college tour this fall which will include student involvement in recycling drives. The network is also in discussions with its national advertising and affiliate partners to build the reach and impact of the initiative (details to be announced at a later date). COMEDY CENTRAL has previously announced that, with the help of NativeEnergy, a national marketer of carbon offsets and renewable energy credits (RECs), this year's "COMEDY CENTRAL Roast of Flavor Flav" was the network's first-ever carbon neutral production.
COMEDY CENTRAL, the only all-comedy network, currently is seen in more than 91 million homes nationwide. COMEDY CENTRAL is owned by, and is a registered trademark of, Comedy Partners, a wholly-owned division of VIACOM Inc.'s (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B) MTV Networks. COMEDY CENTRAL's Internet address is www.comedycentral.com. For up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs visit Press Central, COMEDY CENTRAL's press web site at www.comedycentral.com/press.
MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), is one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. MTV Networks, with 137 channels worldwide, owns and operates the following television programming services - MTV: MUSIC TELEVISION, MTV2, VH1, mtvU, NICKELODEON, NICK at NITE, COMEDY CENTRAL, TV LAND, SPIKE TV, CMT, NOGGIN/THE N, VH1 CLASSIC, LOGO, MTVN INTERNATIONAL and THE DIGITAL SUITE FROM MTV NETWORKS, a package of 13 digital services, all of these networks trademarks of MTV Networks. MTV Networks connects with its audiences through its robust consumer products businesses and its more than 200 interactive properties worldwide, including online, broadband, wireless and interactive television services and also has licensing agreements, joint ventures, and syndication deals whereby all of its programming services can be seen worldwide.
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