Matt Lauer Plays ‘Hide And Seek’ In PSA For Fatherhood [Video]
Today host Matt Lauer plays a cute game of hide-and-seek in a new Ad Council PSA that highlights the importance of fatherhood involvement.
The public service announcement marked the first installment in the Today Takes Action series, which spotlights social issues important to the show’s anchors. For the campaign’s kick-off, Lauer chose to focus on the subject of fathers.
NBC News writes that Lauer wants to raise awareness about the difference a positive male role model can make in a child’s life. He personally created the ad in partnership with the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance and the National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse.
The amusing spot follows Lauer as he seeks out the perfect hiding place during an epic game of hide-and-seek. It’s an activity the host claims he exceeds at from years of game-play with his own family. During the filming he joked that he is the “James Bond of hide and seek.”
According to Ad Week, many scenarios depicting fatherhood were discussed as possibilities for Lauer’s public service announcement. Mark Simon, chief creative officer of Campbell Ewald, talked about the ideas that were discarded in favor of the childhood game:
“Over a span of two weeks, we generated at least 40 different ideas, from Matt re-creating the Red Bull space jump (“too dangerous”) to Matt appearing on air after his kids accidently drew on his face with permanent marker (“too permanent”). One of my favorites had Matt interviewing former President Clinton when Matt’s daughter calls and needs help with her homework. She wants to know the capital of Kyrgyzstan. Matt doesn’t know. President Clinton doesn’t know. They decide to call Hillary. The answer, of course, is Bishkek.”
You can check out Matt Lauer’s hiding skills in the video below:
You can visit Fatherhood.gov for resources and information about the issues that inspired Matt Lauer’s hide and seek PSA.
