Space Station Campaign : McDonnell Douglas Launches Ads to Save Program

Two years ago, McDonnell Douglas Corp. tried to boost support for America’s fledgling space station program--a project potentially worth $1 billion in business for the aerospace company--in a TV advertising campaign that some people thought came on too strong.

The commercial--dubbed “Reds” by McDonnell Douglas publicists--showed a Soviet space station drifting by as people are heard speaking Russian and laughing. The letters “CCCP” and a red star are clearly visible on the station’s outer surface.

As the spacecraft passed out of view, a message appeared on the screen: “Shouldn’t We Be There, Too?”

NBC, ABC and CBS refused to air the commercial, calling it too controversial. The commercial, however, did air for several months on selected local TV stations.

This week, McDonnell Douglas is back with a new, more subtle TV ad campaign aimed at bolstering the space station program. The new ad doesn’t mention the Soviet Union. Instead, it features a blonde, blue-eyed little girl and stresses the themes of space exploration, education and America’s future.

The ad campaign comes at a time when the space station program is facing possible delays or cancellation due to the federal budget squeeze.

NASA has requested $2 billion for the program next year, a big increase from $900 million in the current year. But Congress is widely expected to trim NASA’s $13.2-billion budget request for fiscal 1990, and the space station is likely to share in those cuts.

NASA Administrator Dale D. Myers said recently that he will recommend canceling the space station if Congress orders the agency’s $13.2-billion budget cut by more than $600 million.

Hoping to avert such drastic action, McDonnell Douglas decided to make its case for the space station on the airwaves.

The new 30-second ad shows a starry-eyed little girl donning a space suit and helmet and looking skyward as the space station floats by. The song “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” plays in the background.

A female narrator says: “There’s a big world waiting out there, little one. But if you go to school and learn reading, writing, history, art, science and everything else you can, who knows how far you’ll go?”

After a short pause, a man’s voice says: “For an educated America, even the sky’s not the limit.”

The “Astro Baby” ad was developed by J. Walter Thompson, which also developed the “Reds” commercial.

Tom Williams, a spokesman for McDonnell Douglas Space Systems in Huntington Beach, said the purpose of the latest commercial is “to create a strong awareness of education and manned space flight.”

The ad doesn’t even mention the space station by name, but briefly shows the station. “Some people here (at McDonnell Douglas) saw the ad and felt it was perhaps too subtle,” Williams said.

The company refused to say how much it is spending on the ad campaign, but Williams said it will eat up a “large hunk” of the Space Systems 1989 advertising budget.

The Astro Baby ad began airing Monday on the Cable News Network. It will begin showing on the major networks Sunday, Mother’s Day, on morning public affairs programs. The ad is scheduled to be aired through June.

The ad also will be shown in select local TV stations in areas targeted for political reasons. Those areas include Baltimore; Baton Rouge, La.; Flint, Mich., Jackson, Miss., and Springfield, Mass.

Baltimore, for example, is the district of Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.), who is chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that oversees NASA’s budget. The ads will also air in the home district of Rep. Bob Traxler (D-Mich.), chairman of the House panel handling the NASA budget.

“These are all areas where we wouldn’t be disappointed if people contacted their congressmen,” Williams said.

McDonnell Douglas has a lot at stake with the space station program.

In December, 1987, a contracting team led by McDonnell Douglas Space Systems was awarded a $1.9-billion contract to build a major section of the space station. The contract involves construction of the station’s external framework, air locks and internal working areas. The company already has 680 people working on the space station and will hire several hundred more if the program continues to receive funding during the next few years.

The company plans to move its space station employees into an 8-story office building that is being constructed specifically for the project near its Huntington Beach complex, at a cost of $25 million.

Current plans are to begin launching sections of the station, which will be assembled in space, in 1995.

Williams said the new ad intentionally takes a more low-key approach than the earlier “Reds” spot.

“Reds was made to create an awareness that the Russians had their Mir manned space station in operation and the United States was lagging in space,” Williams said.

The networks viewed the Reds ad as controversial because it played up the “Red scare” theme reminiscent of the days of Sputnik more than 30 years ago. The Soviet launch of the Sputnik satellite in 1957 caught Americans by surprise and fueled fears that the Soviets had grabbed a technological lead.