Dumfries, Va., MARCH 08, 2010 -- In honor of WWII veterans and in appreciation of those currently serving, HBO is launching a video tribute campaign for the troops in partnership with national museums dedicated to preserving the history of WWII. Visitors to the National Museum of the Marine Corps now have the chance to record a video "thank you" message that will become part of a national tribute.
Select video tributes will be collected for a montage that will appear on HBO.com and will be distributed to the troops through partnerships with military and veterans organizations.
HBO Pacific Tribute Campaign Kiosks in the National Museum of the Marine Corps will allow visitors to thank veterans and active military with a 30-second video message, free of charge. The touch-screen kiosk is as easy to use as an ATM. The kiosk uses a new technology, called MeTV, that lets individuals record a high-definition video and e-mail it to any address. MeTV is the first live, location-based broadcast network that embodies many of today's top social media trends. All videos recorded at the National Museum of the Marine Corps will go directly to HBO where select videos will be included in the national montage. There is also an option to send the video directly to a soldier, for those with a friend or family member currently serving.
The HBO Pacific Tribute Campaign kiosk is at the National Museum of the Marine Corps through the end of the mini-series in early May. The Museum is open daily from 9a.m. to 5p.m.For those that are unable to attend, HBO is also offering access to a desktop application that lets individuals with a webcam record a video message at home. For more information, call Chris Vassil at cvassil@susandavis.com or 202-414-0779.
"The Marine Corps Heritage Foundation is extremely proud to help support the HBO Pacific Tribute Campaign by bringing video tribute kiosks to the National Museum of the Marine Corps," said MCHF President & CEO Lt.Gen. Ron Christmas. "We’re pleased to be part of this national project honoring those that served our country in WWII and recognizing the sacrifices and contributions of our active duty service members and their families."
The tribute campaign coincides with the premiere of HBO’s epic miniseries The Pacific, based on the true stories of World War II Marines and executive-produced by Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg and Gary Goetzman. The Pacific tracks the intertwined real-life journeys of three U.S. Marines across the vast canvas of the Pacific Theater during World War II, from their first battle on Guadalcanal to their return home after V-J Day. The Pacific debuts with Part One on Sunday, March 14 (9 p.m. ET/PT), followed by other parts debuting on consecutive Sundays at the same time through May 16.
"We are honored to help provide an opportunity for friends, family, neighbors and everyday citizens to thank veterans and active duty military members for their service to our country," said Zach Enterlin, Vice President of Advertising and Promotions, HBO. "Our hope is that the faces and voices in these personal video messages will demonstrate the true, heartfelt gratitude our nation owes to the men and women of our armed forces."
The following Museums are supporting the HBO Pacific Tribute Campaign: American Airlines C.R. Smith Museum: Fort Worth, TX; Battleship Cove: Fall River, MA; Battleship Missouri Memorial: Honolulu, HI: Battleship New Jersey Museum and Memorial: Camden, NJ; Battleship Wisconsin at Nauticus: Norfolk, VA; Carnegie Science Center - USS Requin Submarine: Pittsburgh, PA; Charlestown Navy Yard Visitors Center: Boston, MA; National Museum of the Marine Corps: Quantico, VA; National Museum of the Pacific War: Fredericksburg, TX; National Naval Aviation Museum: Pensacola, FL; Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum: Mt. Pleasant, SC;
The National WWII Museum: New Orleans, LA; United States Navy Memorial Foundation: Washington DC; USS ALABAMA Battleship Memorial Park: Mobile, AL; USS LEXINGTON Museum On The Bay: Corpus Christi, TX; USS Midway Museum: San Diego, CA. The program is also being supported by the Historic Naval Ships Association.
About The Pacific
The Pacific tracks the intertwined real-life journeys of three U.S. Marines – Robert Leckie (James Badge Dale), Eugene Sledge (Joe Mazzello) and John Basilone (Jon Seda) – across the vast canvas of the Pacific Theater during World War II. The miniseries follows these men and their fellow Marines from their first battle with the Japanese on Guadalcanal, through the rain forests of Cape Gloucester and the strongholds of Peleliu, across the bloody sands of Iwo Jima and through the horror of Okinawa, and finally to their triumphant but uneasy return home after V-J Day.
The HBO Miniseries presentation of a Playtone and DreamWorks production is executive produced by Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg and Gary Goetzman, the producing team behind the Emmy® Award-winning and Golden Globe-winning 2001 HBO miniseries Band of Brothers. Hanks and Goetzman also executive produced the HBO miniseries John Adams, which won a record-breaking 13 Emmys® in 2008. The Pacific debuts with Part One on Sunday, March 14 (9:00pm ET/PT), followed by other parts debuting on consecutive Sundays at the same time through May 16.
About HBO
Home Box Office, Inc. is the premium television programming subsidiary of Time Warner Inc., providing two 24-hour pay television services – HBO® and Cinemax® – to approximately 41 million U.S. subscribers. The services offer the most popular subscription video on demand products, HBO On Demand® and Cinemax On DemandSM, as well as HBO GOSM, HD feeds and multiplex channels. Internationally, HBO branded television networks, along with the subscription video on demand products HBO On Demand and HBO Mobile®, bring HBO services to over 50 countries. HBO programming is sold into over 150 countries worldwide.
About MeTV
MeTV® is the first ever location-based two-way broadcast platform and branding network that broadcasts LIVE from any event to any location in the connected world. With just a few touches to the dynamic touch-screen monitor, users can easily record and send a 30-second video message. With a simple click on the received video, viewers connect back to the user’s website. Through social media links, MeTV can put a user’s icon on thousands of Twitter feeds and Facebook pages. MeTV® has created video-message programs for Pepsi, Kodak, Intel, Harley-Davidson, McDonalds and placed kiosks at cultural venues including the Art Institute of Chicago, Toronto International Film Festival and New York City Fashion Week. MeTV’s Virtual Concierge lets hotel guests browse information on local attractions, check flight status, and send video messages home. For more information, contact info@metv.com.
About Civic Entertainment Group
Civic Entertainment Group (CEG) is a public-spirited marketing agency specializing in branded entertainment, values-based marketing, public-private partnerships, sponsorship consulting and event marketing and production. CEG was named "Agency of the Year" by PROMO Magazine in 2005.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Laura Young, HBO
212-512-5948
laura.young@hbo.com
Chris Vassil, MCHF
202-414-0779
Cvassil@susandavis.com
MeTV
For more information contact: info@metv.com
Betsy Spethmann, Civic Entertainment Group
(212) 426-7006
betsy.spethmann@cegny.com
