Waylon Touts Coal in TV Spot

Waylon Ad this month broke the second of two TV spots in a $10 million effort to change public perception of coal use.

A coalition of coal mine companies, shippers, including railroads, and utilities called the Center for Energy and Economic Development, which uses the name Americans for Balanced Energy Choices, is behind the spots. The spots are aimed at "opinion leaders" who are likely to be politically active, said Joe Lucas, vice president of marketing for the CEED.

"To protect the viability of coal-based electricity, it's necessary to shape public opinion," Lucas said.

The St. Louis ad agency's spot, which follows a debut effort that broke in April, suggests coal use is economically efficient and environmentally friendly. In the latest spot, a panorama of people and faces, including a man in the middle of a field with an electric guitar, is shown as a voiceover touts coal use. Utilities, the viewer is told, have invested more than $50 billion in new technologies to reduce emissions by one-third, and coal provides more than half of all electrical power.

The spot is airing on CNN through mid-December. A second-year campaign, also to be produced by Waylon, is being planned.

Waylon picked up the business earlier this year after Lucas received a recommendation about the shop.