D'Oh! - DoH to Sponsor The Simpsons

Britain's Department of Health is spending $1 million to sponsor episodes of The Simpsons, as part of its Change4Life campaign, under the tagline "Supporting the Simpsons: sometimes."

The DoH will sponsor new episodes of the show through Christmas, in which Homer & Co. will start out with the traditional assortment of pizza, beer and doughnuts, which will be replaced throughout the show with healthy alternatives.

The Simpsons, the DoH believes, presents a unique and engaging new opportunity to reach its target audience with key anti-obesity messages.

"The Simpsons are a much-loved, close-knit family facing some of the everyday challenges that modern day families go through," Public Health minister Gillian Merron said in a statement.

The Simpsons were previously sponsored by Dominoes Pizza.

"Whilst they certainly make some questionable choices about how they go about things, they provide a popular and engaging way to get the message to real-life families about simple ways of improving their diet and activity for a healthier lifestyle."

The Simpsons campaign is supported by DoH agencies, M&C Saatchi and Manning Gottlieb OMD.

In addition to commercial categories, have you considered how your property can help government and non-governmental bodies (NGO's) move beyond traditional PSA's to more creatively get their message to the public?