Seattle, Nov. 15, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zooppa, the leading source of user-generated advertising, and MatchingDonors.com, the world’s largest living organ donor registry, recently announced the winners of their "Everybody Can Save a Life!" video contest, held to encourage people to sign up to be a living donor.
"Everyday 19 people die while waiting for an organ transplant, many which could have come from a living donor," said Paul Dooley, CEO of MatchingDonors.com. "Working with Zooppa and its community of creatives, we’ve been able to reach a much wider audience with our message in a very compelling way. Leveraging their talents to tell our story will help save the lives of many patients in need."
MatchingDonors.com asked participants to create a 30-second video that promotes, celebrates or teaches about being a living organ donor on MatchingDonors.com. Videos were judged by a panel of Hollywood heavyweights, including Emmy award-winning producer Jon Kroll and 20th Century Fox’s Tom Cavanaugh.
Evaluated on three key criteria--content, creativity and clarity--first place honors were awarded to Rob Micai of Orland, FL for his We're the Perfect Match video. In addition to a $5,000 cash award, Micai has been awarded a choice of assistant producing and/or work and credits on a television show, movie or music video with one of the contest’s judges.
Joseph Boyle of Davenport, IA was awarded second place for his Pieces of my Brother submission. Boyle will receive a $2,000 award and the choice of one of the remaining of assistant producing and/or work and credits on a television show, movie or music video with one of the contest’s judges.
Third place went to Mark Allen of Los Angeles, CA for his Battle Scars submission. Boyle receives $1,000 and the choice of one of the remaining assistant producing and/or work and credits on a television show, movie or music video with one of our judges.
"We are honored to have the opportunity to work alongside MatchingDonors.com in furthering its mission," said Wil Merritt, CEO of Zooppa. "This contest presented an incredible opportunity for our community of film makers to help raise awareness about such a remarkable non-profit organization and cause."
Two of the contest judges know firsthand the importance of living organ donation: Cavanaugh has donated a kidney to a patient from MatchingDonors.com and National Lampoon producer Alan Donnes received a kidney from a match found on the website.
To sign up to become a living donor, visit: www.matchingdonors.com. For more information on Zooppa, visit: www.zooppa.com.
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About Zooppa
Zooppa is the world’s leading source of user-generated advertising. With a creative community of over 126,000 members, Zooppa has worked with global brands like Samsung, AT&T, Nike and Google and agencies like BBDO, MindShare and Razorfish to produce fresh and fun creative ads. Beyond content, Zooppa’s innovative model of social crowdsourcing offers brands and agencies a cost-effective, strategic approach to engage consumers, build online word-of-mouth and gain customer insights.