CLEVELAND, March 25, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In a world filled with negative newsfeeds and heads buried deeply in our phones, we are becoming more and more disconnected. We're becoming more alone together. According to a 2013 Weber Shandwick study, 95 percent of Americans believe our country has a civility problem, but 87 percent of them are willing to do something about it.* American Greetings is inspiring remedies for this increasingly rude world by working to help make the world a more thoughtful and caring place with the launch of ThankList.
A bucket list is a list of things you want to do before you die, and a ThankList is a list of those you want to thank to feel alive. It's a list of people you want to express gratitude toward for helping to shape your life, and it's a step toward a world that's just a little bit nicer. As part of this social movement, we created a digital experience that encourages everyone to start practicing gratitude by writing their own ThankList. Via written word or a dynamic personal video, all messages of thanks are aggregated into a collective, never-ending ThankList.
"Our purpose at American Greetings is to make the world a more thoughtful and caring place," said John Beeder, President and Chief Operating Officer. "Creating more meaningful connections between people isn't simply something we believe in – it's something we are actively doing, and ThankList is the perfect way to demonstrate that practicing gratitude is easy and impactful."
To introduce ThankList, we partnered with two-time Oscar™-winning documentarian Barbara Kopple and the production company Nonfiction Unlimited to follow five people as they created, and then fulfilled, their deeply personal ThankLists. As each participant worked through their list, we documented the impact, importance and emotional resonance of gratitude. We stopped at nothing to accomplish all five lists, and, in partnership with The Huffington Post, we hosted a private screening of these ThankList videos yesterday in New York City.
This video screening was followed by a panel discussion on the importance of gratitude featuring Hollywood actress, director and producer Elizabeth Banks. She was joined by panelists Arianna Huffington, author and co-founder of The Huffington Post; Gabby Bernstein, motivational speaker and author; Dr. Randy Kamen, psychologist, author and educator; and esteemed ThankList video series director, Barbara Kopple.
"I love that American Greetings is spreading such a positive message," said Elizabeth Banks. "It's a powerful idea, and I hope it inspires people to share their gratitude in the world."
To write your own ThankList and learn more about this movement encouraging gratitude, visit Thanklist.com. For more information on American Greetings, visit www.corporate.americangreetings.com. You can also follow American Greetings on Twitter, Facebook, American Greetings blog, YouTube, Pinterest, Google+ and Instagram.
About American Greetings Corporation
For more than 100 years, American Greetings Corporation has been a creator and manufacturer of innovative social expression products that assist consumers in enhancing their relationships to create happiness, laughter and love. The Company's major greeting card lines are American Greetings, Carlton Cards, Gibson, Recycled Paper Greetings and Papyrus, and other paper product offerings include DesignWare party goods and American Greetings and Plus Mark gift-wrap and boxed cards. American Greetings also has one of the largest collections of greetings on the Web, including greeting cards available at Cardstore.com and electronic greeting cards available at AmericanGreetings.com. In addition to its product lines, American Greetings also creates and licenses popular character brands through the AG Properties group. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, American Greetings generates annual revenue of approximately $2 billion, and its products can be found in retail outlets worldwide. For more information on the Company, visit www.corporate.americangreetings.com.
*Source: Civility in America 2013, Weber Shandwick, KRC Research
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