NFL "Play 60" campaign - Too many fat kids

Kids these days are too fat. They live in a world full of video games, television, internets, and cell phones. This is how they spend their time, indoors, and on their lazy butts, essentially doing nothing.  I think that this is a problem, and so does the National Football League. A few years ago the NFL started their “Play 60” campaign. The tag line is “The NFL movement for an active generation.”  The purpose is to tackle childhood obesity (Ha! See what I did there? “Tackle”… )  by encouraging kids to go outside, and play for at least 60 minutes a day. The campaign features NFL stars and children having fun, playing, outside.  I remember seeing an ad a few years ago featuring the Barack Obama. He went out for a pass and successfully caught it.

The “Play 60” campaign is more than just a series of cleverly designed ads. The NFL is promoting healthy lifestyle choices by holding events across the country with NFL stars, and there is also a contest on their website where the kids who play the most can win something like a trip to the Superbowl. I’m a little surprised that kids need a contest gimmick to motivate them to play, but whatever, that’s the reality of the situation

I really like this campaign.  I hate the fact that kids don’t see they joy in having fun anymore, and this campaign is a step in the right direction to help combat that fact. One of my favorite aspects of sustainability is when companies do things that they don’t necessarily need to do, but do it anyways because it is good for society as a whole.