Public service announcement
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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 benefit the public interest, by raising awareness of an issue, affecting public attitudes, and potentially stimulating action.
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[edit] History
While advertisements related to public issues likely stretch back as far as advertising itself, the PSA in its current form was in many ways shaped by the Ad Council (initially called the War Advertising Council) during and after World War II. [1]
The Ad Council made its mark by implementing on a massive scale the idea of using advertising to influence American society on a range of fronts. The first Ad Council 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.[2]
Over the following decades PSAs solidified into a major presence in U.S. TV and radio. For some years broadcast stations were required to air PSAs, in addition to meeting other requirements, as part of serving as a "public trustee." [3]
The role of PSAs was affected by deregulation of the broadcasting industry in the 1980s.
New PSAs continue to be produced and aired today, although stations are no longer mandated to air them for free.
The Ad Council continues as the leading producer and distributor of PSAs. The Ad Council takes on a focused selection of campaigns at a time, while other firms such as Salo Productions serve organizations outside of the focus of the Ad Council.
[edit] Characteristics
The most common topics of PSAs are health and safety. A typical PSA is part of a public awareness campaign to inform or educate the public about an issue such as smoking 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 Michael J. Fox's PSAs in the U.S. supporting research into Parkinson's disease and Crips street gang leader Stanley "Tookie" Williams speaking from prison to urge youth not to join gangs.
Some religious organizations produce PSAs on non-religious themes such as family values. Examples include the long-running homefront campaign[4] 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 produces PSAs to recruit enlistees.
Some television shows featuring very special episodes made PSAs after the episodes. For example, Conrad Bain of Diff'rent Strokes spoke two PSAs after the episodes dealing with child sexual abuse and hitchhiking.
