Public service announcement
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- PSA (aka Public Service Announcement) was also the planned title of the song and single Bad Day by R.E.M.
The main concept is to modify public attitudes by raising awareness about specific issues.
PSAs in the United States
Often, a celebrity promotes a foundation and asks for support to be given by viewers or listeners. An example being Michael J. Fox's PSAs in the US supporting research into Parkinson's Disease, from which he suffers. Some are public awareness campaigns, lobbying, for example, against smoking or compulsive gambling. Other times, they are produced by individuals in prison, as a means of "scaring straight" listeners. One PSA was produced by Crips street gang leader Stanley "Tookie" Williams, urging youth listening not to join gangs. Some religious groups produce PSAs about non-religious themes such as family values as a means of increasing awareness of their church, and to show the role the church has in serving the community. Examples include a long-running campaign from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and more recently the United Methodist Church. Finally, the military produces PSAs to recruit new enlistees. However, more recently they have gone to paid advertising and sponsorship, as recruiting has become more difficult.
The Ad Council is the largest distributor of PSAs in the United States.
Well-known PSAs
- Crash test dummy - "You can Learn a Lot from a Dummy," Vince and Larry on seatbelts.
- G.I. Joe's "And knowing is half the battle!"
- Heritage Minutes
- Hinterland Who's Who
- Keep America Beautiful
- Love. It Comes in All Colors
- McGruff the Crime Dog "Take a bite out of crime!"
- Smokey Bear "Only you can prevent forest fires!"
- The More You Know (seen exclusively on the NBC U.S. Television Network)
- This is Your Brain on Drugs (a frying egg)
- Woodsy Owl
- Crying Indian (advocates against littering)
- Mr. Yuk
- Heather Crowe
- You, Dad! I Learned it From Watching You!
See also
- Public Information Film (television spots produced for the British government)
- propaganda
External links
- [Ad Council], the largest distributor of public service announcements in the United States. Another leading producer of public service announcements is the Partnership for a Drug-Free America (www.drugfree.org), the group that created the "This is your brain on drugs" tv spot.
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