Rent-A-Center And Fox NFL Sunday's James Brown Team Up With The National Center For Missing And Exploited Children For A Nationwide 'Picture Them Home' Public Service Campaign

July 31, 2002 at 12:00 AM EDT
PLANO, Texas (July 31, 2002) - With missing children cases riveting the public's attention, Rent-A-Center, Inc. (NASDAQ: RCII) is increasing its corporate support to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). To create more awareness for the NCMEC, Rent-A-Center is sponsoring a nationwide "Picture Them Home" public service campaign. The PSA began airing June 24, 2002 and is running nationally on ABC Family as well as on numerous local stations.

The spot is narrated by James Brown, co-host of FOX NFL Sunday. The NCMEC toll-free hotline number and web site address are also prominently displayed so people can report a sighting. Over 700 TV stations across the country were sent a :30, :20, :15 and :10 version of the PSA to allow for versatility in filling airtime.

As part of the "Picture Them Home" campaign, Brown encourages viewers to spend more time focusing on every missing child photo they see. In addition, he urges parents to maintain current, close-up, high-quality photographs of their children in case of an emergency.

"Rent-A-Center produced the PSA to build more public awareness of the missing children problem. We are always searching for new ways to promote awareness of a cause that is important to our customers, our communities and our company," said Ann Davids, vice president of Advertising, Rent-A-Center. "And we are especially thrilled that the PSA will reach millions of people as TV stations nationwide begin to air it in the coming weeks."

Since Rent-A-Center began its partnership with NCMEC in May 2000, three missing children have been found as a direct result of Rent-A-Center's efforts. These efforts include the sponsorship of KidCare Photo Identification events in local communities, distribution of more than 350 million flyers nationwide with pictures of missing children in the past year and inclusion of counters cards with pictures of missing children at 2,300 Rent-A-Center stores nationwide. "People should take the time to look at the pictures of missing children and with each airing of this PSA, we expect the number of children returned safely to their families will increase," concluded Davids.

Headquartered in Plano, Texas, Rent-A-Center, Inc. is the nation's largest rent-to-own retailer, currently operating more than 2,300 company-owned, rent-to-own stores in 50 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico. The stores offer high-quality, durable goods such as furniture, appliances, home electronics, computers and accessories to consumers. Rent-A-Center's flexible rental-purchase agreements allow customers to obtain ownership of the merchandise at the conclusion of an agreed-upon rental period