Press Releases

ATLANTA — June 23, 2011 — The American Cancer Society (ACS), the official sponsor of birthdays, today announced the launch of the Create More Birthdays Contest & Sweepstakes in search of new artists and musicians to join its movement to create a world with less cancer and more birthdays. The contest provides an opportunity for everyday people to join the biggest names in art and entertainment, such as Celine Dion, Rihanna, Eric Carle and Usher, by offering their own artistic expression in support of the American Cancer Society’s lifesaving work.

Here is how the Create More Birthdays Contest works:

• Musicians are invited to submit a video performance of the traditional “Happy Birthday” song, similar to the clips contributed by celebrity entertainers, while artists can submit original, visual artwork - both inspired by the many ways the ACS has helped make progress against cancer.
• Participants can submit entries at http://my.morebirthdays.com starting today through July 24, where the submissions will be open to online public voting.
•  Twelve Finalists (five Finalists in each category based on the public’s favorites, and one Finalist in each category selected by a panel of qualified judges, including art and design expert Erin Loechner, Rock and Roll Mama Lindsay Maines and writer and photographer Karen Walrond) will be announced on approximately August 3rd and then two Grand Prize Winners – one in music and one in art – will be determined by public vote and announced at the end of August.
• The two Grand Prize Winners’ submissions will be added to ACS’s More Birthdays gallery on morebirthdays.com alongside Justin Bieber, Masha D’yans and Lady Antebellum among many others and featured in a wide range of online products for download, such as e-cards, to help raise money to save more lives from cancer. The winning musician’s work will also be featured in American Cancer Society’s nationwide advertising campaign and the winning artist’s work will be featured on Tiny Prints in their exclusive American Cancer Society card collection on tinyprints.com.

Musician Kate Voegele, who recently joined the movement for more birthdays with her rendition of “Happy Birthday,” said of the contest, “I’m so proud to lend my voice to support the American Cancer Society and all they do to save lives from this horrible disease. I encourage artists and musicians everywhere to join with me and my fellow artists to use their talent to support this cause.”

The public is encouraged to vote for their favorite music video and artwork entries at http://my.morebirthdays.com. With each vote cast, voters are entered into the Create More Birthdays Sweepstakes to win More Birthdays gift packs, including Tiny Prints birthday cards and More Birthdays gift wrap, posters, limited-edition prints and more, all created from the art inspired by ACS’s work from famous artists, such as Andrew Bannecker and Andy Gilmore. Entrants and fans of the Create More Birthdays Contest can also share their own submissions or their favorites with friends and family via their own social networks.

The American Cancer Society’s More Birthdays movement is dedicated to creating a world with less cancer and more birthdays – through decades of scientific research, advocacy, patient support and much more. With more work like this and your help, we can create even more celebrations and more birthdays for all. To get involved in the movement or to learn more about the Create More Birthdays Contest and rules[i] visit http://www.morebirthdays.com/

About the American Cancer Society

The American Cancer Society combines an unyielding passion with nearly a century of experience to save lives and end suffering from cancer. As a global grassroots force of more than three million volunteers, we fight for every birthday threatened by every cancer in every community. We save lives by helping people stay well be preventing cancer or detecting it early; helping people get well by being there for them during and after a cancer diagnosis; and by finding cures through investment in groundbreaking discovery; and by fighting back by rallying lawmakers to pass law to defeat cancer and by rallying communities worldwide to join the fight. As the nation’s largest non-governmental investor in cancer research, contributing more than $3.5 billion, we turn what we know about cancer into what we do. As a result, more than 11 million people in America who have had cancer and countless more who have avoided it would be celebrating birthdays this year. To learn more about us or to get help, call us anytime, day or night, at 1-800-227-2345 or visit cancer.org

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Andrew Becker, American Cancer Society, 212-237-3899
andrew.becker@cancer.org 

Kate Taylor
Brodeur Partners on behalf of American Cancer Society, 617-587-2010
ktaylor@brodeur.com