Whether your introduction to the world of public service announcements was kicked off by a crime-fighting dog or skillet-welding Rachel Leigh Cook, PSAs have fundamentally shaped the way vital information reaches audiences.
Not unlike the other public services sprung from seemingly nowhere, war has played a massive role in the evolution of PSAs, starting as far back as the Civil War. Public service announcements as we know came to fruition with the founding of the Federal Committee of Public. From this tumultuous time came J.M. Flagg’s iconic “I want you for U. S. Army” poster sporting the newly-developed mascot of American Patriotism, Uncle Sam.
While they may promote specific actions—such as wearing seat belts or quitting smoking—their overarching goal is to promote positive changes that benefit society at large. PSAs are distinct from commercial advertisements in that they are not designed to sell a product or service but to inspire social change or education.
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In 1949, the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC), introduced the Fairness Doctrine, requiring the holders of broadcast licenses to present issues of public importance “in a manner that fairly reflected differing viewpoints.”
In the decades that followed, campaigns urging Americans to pick up their trash, stay off drugs, and drink milk with reckless abandon shaped the genre as a whole while allowing for creative license.
In 1985, the National Highway Transport Safety Administration worked with the Leo Burnett agency to create a series of ads starring two crash test dummies in a bid to raise seat belt usage on a national level. Following the ensuing campaign, TV show, and line of toys, the NHTSA reported seeing 79% lift in seat belt usage by 1997.
Throughout the years, PSAs have shifted in scope and tone &emdash; influenced by popular animation styles and pop culture figures. With more than 1.5 million nonprofits fighting over air time, government agencies spent more than $1.8 billion on discretionary advertising in 2023 alone.
At SMI, our approach to writing and producing public service announcements that motivate listeners to act is directly inspired by the successful PSAs that have planted the seed of change in listeners’ minds.
I sat down with my fellow copywriter, Kristy Martino, to talk about a recent PSA she wrote tackling child nutrition and how she found inspiration for this widespread issue.
How did you familiarize yourself with the subject matter of this ad?
“I was really excited that we had an opportunity to write about a cause that I found so personally important. In my personal life, I’ve done a lot of advocacy work centered around alleviating poverty in America and have met people whose children and livelihood had been directly impacted by a lack of access to adequate food and healthcare.”
From a production standpoint, how does a PSA compare to a traditional ad?
“I knew the linchpin of the script before I wrote it. This one line I couldn’t get out of my head: ‘these kids aren’t bad kids, they’re hungry kids.’ I wrote around that line to show how people pin the blame on children, when in reality, the impacts from malnutrition affects everything in a kid’s world.”
What makes this a successful PSA?
“I think it plays with the idea of misconception by starting the ad with complaints from the teachers noticing a child’s behavior. It’s not until the announcer comes in that you understand where these behaviors come from: hunger. It’s a basic human right that everyone should have and that’s something I think this ad got across in only thirty seconds.”
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