Patent Office Ad Campaign Inspires Young Minds To Invent

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation (NIHFF), and The Advertising Council have launched a series of ads to inspire children to invent and innovate.

The national public service announcements will air on television, radio, and Web ads as well as outdoor signs. They are the second series of ads to encourage U.S. competition by inspiring young people.

Ad agency Publicis & Hal Riney of San Francisco targets so-called tweens (ages 8 to 11) to recognize how their imaginations can lead to the technology advances. It encourages curiosity and imaginative ideas, the sparks for invention. The ads show ordinary children creating inventions to solve everyday problems and tells viewers "anything's possible." They also encourage viewers to visit a Web site, designed by Visual Perspectives Internet, to explore their own inventiveness and curiosity about space, sports, design, and entertainment.

The site will add a showroom, from Driftlab that explains inventions, including those in the PSAs, and offers interactive games and an inventor's tool kit. The Web site has already drawn over 2 million visitors and more than 72,000 registrations. More than 1,200 children have shared their inventions through the site.

"This campaign has had extraordinary success in engaging children during the last year, and the new ads, along with the enhancements to the website, will continue the momentum," Peggy Conlon, president and CEO of the Ad Council, said in an announcement.

The PSAs will be distributed through 33,000 media stations nationwide, beginning this week. Media outlets donate the ad time and space.