The Ad Council has joined forces with Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Movies‘ Wonder Park to inspire young girls to use science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to build, create and change the world. The new PSA (public service advertisement) is an extension of the Ad Council’s She Can STEM campaign, which encourages girls to pursue their STEM passions by challenging obsolete stereotypes and surprising girls with how cool, unexpected and inspiring STEM can be.
The PSA follows 12-year-old June as she creates the whimsical, “splendiferous” amusement park, Wonderland, using STEM. The wildly creative June has a maker spirit and excels at engineering, building and math. The PSA assets direct viewers to @SheCanSTEM on Instagram to learn more about the campaign and resources for girls who are interested in STEM.
Women make up half of the total college-educated workforce in the U.S., but they only constitute 25% of the STEM workforce, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.i Research shows that many girls lose interest in STEM as early as middle school, and this path continues through high school and college, ultimately leading to an under-representation of women in STEM careers.
Wonder Park tells the story of a magnificent amusement park where the imagination of a young girl named June comes alive. The movie features the voices of stars including Mila Kunis, Jennifer Garner, Mathew Broderick, John Oliver, Ken Jeong, Keenan Thompson, Ken Hudson Campbell and Norbert Leo Butz, among others. The voice of June will be played by 15-year-old Brianna Denski, who is passionate about encouraging other girls to pursue their interests in STEM. Wonder Park hits theaters on March 15, 2019.
The PSAs will run in donated time and space, following the Ad Council‘s model. The assets are available in TV, digital and out-of-home formats nationwide. Previous Ad Council partnerships with Paramount include PSAs featuring characters and footage from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows on behalf of the Ad Council’s Bullying Prevention campaign and Selma on behalf of UNCF’s Better Futures campaign.
To learn more about The Ad Council‘s work with Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Movies, visit the She Can STEM website. Join the @SheCanSTEM community on Instagram.
i U.S. Department of Commerce: Women in STEM: 2017 Update. Available at: https://www.commerce.gov/sites/commerce.gov/files/migrated/reports/women-in-stem-2017-update.pdf