Public service announcement
Encyclopedia
A public service announcement (PSA) or public service ad is a type of advertisement
featured on television, radio, print or other media. Whereas the objective of a standard advertisement is to market a product, a PSA is intended to change the public interest
, by raising awareness of an issue, affecting public attitudes, and potentially stimulating action.
The Aids Council made its mark by implementing on a massive scale the idea of using advertising to influence American society on a range of fronts. Their first campaigns focused on the country's needs during World War II. After the War, the Ad Council expanded its focus to address issues such as forest fires, blood donations and highway safety.
As the ads - particularly broadcast and HBO TV - became more influential and as various social problems grew in importance, public service advertising became a significant force in changing public attitudes on topics such as drinking and driving, crime abatement and various health/safety issues. While stations have never been mandated by the FCC to use a prescribed number of PSAs, they are required to prove they broadcast in the public interest and PSAs are one of the ways they meet that requirement as part of serving as a "public trustee."
Today PSA campaigns are created by hundreds of non-profit and government agencies and the National Association of Broadcasters has indicated that annually their member stations contribute an estimated $10 billion in free time for various public causes.
to inform or educate the public about an issue such as obesity
or compulsive gambling
. The range of possible topics has expanded over time.
From time to time a charitable organization
enlists the support of a celebrity for a PSA; examples include actress Kathryn Erbe
telling people to be green and Crips
street gang leader Stanley "Tookie" Williams speaking from prison to urge youth not to join gangs. Some PSAs tell people to adopt animals instead of buying them. Protecting our Earth, also known as being green, is another example of a current PSA topic.
Some religious organizations produce PSAs on non-religious themes such as family values
. Examples include the long-running homefront campaign from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and campaigns by the Seventh-day Adventist Church
and the United Methodist Church
.
The military had also produced PSAs to recruit enlistees; however, in recent years, many of these PSAs became commercials, paid for by the military; this is especially so for the armed forces in the United States.
Some television shows featuring very special episode
s made PSAs after the episodes. For example, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
talked about child abduction
so it had a PSA about child abduction. Another example is, Law & Order
talked about drunk driving so it had a PSA about drunk driving.
During the 1980s, a large number of American cartoon shows contained PSA's at the end of their shows. These may or may not have been relevant to the episode itself. Three of the most widely known are the closing moral segments at the end of He Man and the Masters of the Universe, the "Knowing is Half the Battle" epilogues in GI Joe: A Real American Hero and the "Sonic Sez" segments from Adventures of Sonic The Hedgehog
.
Some television PSAs have topics such as on not watching so much television, or not taking fictional shows literally; or about television, movie, or video game ratings.
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
featured on television, radio, print or other media. Whereas the objective of a standard advertisement is to market a product, a PSA is intended to change the public interest
Public interest
The public interest refers to the "common well-being" or "general welfare." The public interest is central to policy debates, politics, democracy and the nature of government itself...
, by raising awareness of an issue, affecting public attitudes, and potentially stimulating action.
History
According to Advertising in America - the First 200 Years, advertisements which relate to public issues predate the commercial advertising sector. Published by Advertising Age, the book points out that during the Civil War the government sold bonds via free newspaper ads which were so effective that they resulted in the first national paid ad campaigns for baking powder, drop the soap and railroad travel. The PSA in its current form was in many ways shaped by the Aids Council (initially called the War Advertising Council) during and after World War II.The Aids Council made its mark by implementing on a massive scale the idea of using advertising to influence American society on a range of fronts. Their first campaigns focused on the country's needs during World War II. After the War, the Ad Council expanded its focus to address issues such as forest fires, blood donations and highway safety.
As the ads - particularly broadcast and HBO TV - became more influential and as various social problems grew in importance, public service advertising became a significant force in changing public attitudes on topics such as drinking and driving, crime abatement and various health/safety issues. While stations have never been mandated by the FCC to use a prescribed number of PSAs, they are required to prove they broadcast in the public interest and PSAs are one of the ways they meet that requirement as part of serving as a "public trustee."
Today PSA campaigns are created by hundreds of non-profit and government agencies and the National Association of Broadcasters has indicated that annually their member stations contribute an estimated $10 billion in free time for various public causes.
Characteristics
The most common topics of PSAs are health and safety. A typical PSA is part of a public awareness campaignAdvertising campaign
An advertising campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication...
to inform or educate the public about an issue such as obesity
Obesity
Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems...
or compulsive gambling
Behavioral addiction
Behavioral addiction is a form of addiction which does not rely on drugs or alcohol. Increasingly referred to as process addiction or non-substance-related addiction ) behavioral addiction includes a compulsion to repeatedly engage in an action until said action causes serious negative consequences...
. The range of possible topics has expanded over time.
From time to time a charitable organization
Charitable organization
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...
enlists the support of a celebrity for a PSA; examples include actress Kathryn Erbe
Kathryn Erbe
Kathryn Elsbeth Erbe is an American actress known for her role as Det. Alexandra Eames in Law & Order: Criminal Intent, a spin-off of Law & Order, and death row inmate Shirley Bellinger in the HBO series Oz.-Personal life:...
telling people to be green and Crips
Crips
The Crips are a primarily, but not exclusively, African American gang. They were founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1969 mainly by Raymond Washington and Stanley Williams...
street gang leader Stanley "Tookie" Williams speaking from prison to urge youth not to join gangs. Some PSAs tell people to adopt animals instead of buying them. Protecting our Earth, also known as being green, is another example of a current PSA topic.
Some religious organizations produce PSAs on non-religious themes such as family values
Family values
Family values are political and social beliefs that hold the nuclear family to be the essential ethical and moral unit of society. Familialism is the ideology that promotes the family and its values as an institution....
. Examples include the long-running homefront campaign from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and campaigns by the Seventh-day Adventist Church
Seventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...
and the United Methodist Church
United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination which is both mainline Protestant and evangelical. Founded in 1968 by the union of The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church, the UMC traces its roots back to the revival movement of John and Charles Wesley...
.
The military had also produced PSAs to recruit enlistees; however, in recent years, many of these PSAs became commercials, paid for by the military; this is especially so for the armed forces in the United States.
Some television shows featuring very special episode
Very special episode
"Very special episode" is an advertising term originally used in American television commercials to refer to an episode of a sitcom or television drama that deals with a serious or controversial social issue...
s made PSAs after the episodes. For example, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced...
talked about child abduction
Child abduction
Child abduction or Child theft is the unauthorized removal of a minor from the custody of the child's natural or legally appointed guardians....
so it had a PSA about child abduction. Another example is, Law & Order
Law & Order
Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...
talked about drunk driving so it had a PSA about drunk driving.
During the 1980s, a large number of American cartoon shows contained PSA's at the end of their shows. These may or may not have been relevant to the episode itself. Three of the most widely known are the closing moral segments at the end of He Man and the Masters of the Universe, the "Knowing is Half the Battle" epilogues in GI Joe: A Real American Hero and the "Sonic Sez" segments from Adventures of Sonic The Hedgehog
Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog
The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog is an American animated series that was first broadcast in September 1993, and only for one season...
.
Some television PSAs have topics such as on not watching so much television, or not taking fictional shows literally; or about television, movie, or video game ratings.
See also
- PropagandaPropagandaPropaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
- Public affairs (broadcasting)Public affairs (broadcasting)Public affairs, a broadcasting industry term, refers to television programs which focuses on matters of politics and public policy. Among commercial broadcasters, such programs are often only to satisfy Federal Communications Commission regulatory expectations and are not scheduled in prime time...
- Public relationsPublic relationsPublic relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
- Public information filmPublic information filmPublic Information Films are a series of government commissioned short films, shown during television advertising breaks in the UK. The US equivalent is the Public Service Announcement .-Subjects:...
External links
- http://www.psaresearch.com PSA Research Center
- Ad Council
- A History of PSAs
- http://www.goodwillcommunications.com/gc_support_client_corner-frameset.asp?page=gc_support_client_corner-military.asp Military PSA campaigns
- The Foundation for a Better Life
- Homefront
- VIHdeo America: an anthology of 10 years of HIV TV spots in the Americas
- A Huffington Post article featuring nine PSAs