Introducing the Real John Travolta
While Disney was using John Travolta's star power to market its hit movie A Civil Action, Fenton Communications was working with real-life attorney Jan Schlichtmann to promote the true environmental story behind the film-toxic contamination of public water supplies.
Schlichtmann risked everything trying to prove that two corporations were responsible for contaminating the water supply of Woburn, Massachusetts.
Fenton, along with our client Environmental Media Services, used the Hollywood version of his story to spotlight dozens of towns around the country where industrial pollution is suspected of causing cancer clusters and other health problems. We created a web site (www.civilactive.com) where journalists could find local toxic polluters simply by entering zip codes.
Taking the name "Civil Active" for our campaign, we issued press materials to movie critics, entertainment producers and health reporters across the country, offering Schlichtmann-the "real" John Travolta-as a talk show guest and interviewee.
The "Civil Active" campaign was a resounding success. All of the film's opening night coverage, including Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood and Inside Edition, featured interviews with Schlichtmann, toxics experts and the Woburn families. Our campaign also inspired a wave of press coverage on the health effects of toxic pollution, including Good Morning America, Burden of Proof, Washington Post, the New York Times, USA Today and Time.
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Very interesting. Thank you. I never saw that movie (for obvious reasons).