Influencers Come Together To Help American Red Cross Share a PSA

The American Red Cross has turned to influencers in social media, alongside some traditional celebrities, to launch a home fire awareness campaign called 2Steps2Minutes. The program’s goal is to save people from this danger that claims more lives in this country than hurricanes, tornadoes and floods together. The video portion of the campaign is drawing on the trust and built-in audiences of influencers involved to help raise consciousness of this issue.

To mount the project, the American Red Cross worked with millennial-focused media company What’s Trending, iHeartMedia, The Charity Network and Reveal Project. The videos and other content in the series call on people to make an escape plan to get out of their house in less than two minutes and check smoke alarms regularly.

Social media giants GloZell Green, Frankie Grande, Bart Baker, Brodie Smith, and Brittany Furlan are all featured in the ‘I Can Do It In Two Minutes’ Public Service Announcement. The PSA was also directed by the Brothers Riedell, known for the social media-spawned films Camp Takota and Bad Night.

The issue is at a crisis level most people might not believe, says Russ Paulsen, the head of community preparedness for American Red Cross. “On an average day, seven of our neighbors die in home fires, and that’s just seven too many. This campaign is a great way to spread life-saving information.”

The influencers and traditional celebrities involved in the campaign are promoting the 2Steps2Minutes message through a variety of venues, including digital content and interactions, merchandise, exclusive auction items, and unique experiences. The sale of all items will benefit the Red Cross’s life-saving mission.

iHeartMedia is the official media partner for 2Steps2Minutes and will leverage the company’s spectrum of multiplatform assets to address key aspects of fire safety and prevention. iHeartMedia will launch an on-air and online campaign that includes a series of PSAs and original content recorded by best-selling a cappella group Pentatonix and others. Additionally, iHeartMedia will host the fourth annual What’s Trending Tube-A-Thon.

“From day one, What’s Trending has been committed to social-good programming and bringing the influencer community together to serve as a catalyst for improving the world around us,” said Shira Lazar, co-founder of What’s Trending.

The Charity Network will host one-of-a-kind celebrity experiences across Prizeo and Charitybuzz platforms to raise funds to benefit the Red Cross. The first packages announced include experiences from celebrities including Sheryl Crow, Laura Marano, Scotty McCreery, and influencers Frankie Grande, Matthew Santoro, Rooster Teeth and Joey Graceffa.

“We’re excited to partner with incredible organizations to help champion some of our favorite causes like the American Red Cross,” said Todd Wagner, founder and chairman of The Charity Network.

Additionally, Kelsea Ballerini, Alli Simpson, and Troye Sivan have teamed up with Reveal Project to each design limited-edition merchandise to support the campaign. “We are so excited to be working with the Red Cross and young stars like Kelsea, Alli, and Troye who are doing their part to make this a better world,” said Kathy Raiola, president of Reveal Project, Inc.

The American Red Cross helps families put the pieces back together after nearly 66,000 disasters a year, the vast majority of which are home fires. On an average day, 7 people die and 36 are injured from a home fire, resulting in over $7 billion in property damages each year.  To combat this, in less than 18 months, the Red Cross and its partners have installed over 239,000 free smoke alarms in homes across 3,700 cities.

For more information, visit the RedCross page for the campaign.