Best PSAs
March 4, 2011 10:22 AM Subscribe
What are the most interesting, thought-provoking, and innovative television or internet public service announcements of the past few years?
Every semester for freshman composition, I assign an essay asking students to analyze advertisements. I’ve chosen a new textbook this semester, and it has a section on public health messages, so I thought I would tweak the assignment to focus on public health and public service announcements. So far, I am including the Montana Meth Project, the It Gets Better campaign, and the Above the Influence campaign as options, but I would like to add at least two more. I know that I have heard of interesting campaigns against smoking and texting, but I didn’t take specific note of them at the time. The campaigns should have at least three different commercials or videos. They can be from any country, but they should be in English. I also ask students to include some secondary sources, so it would be best if these were campaigns that were noticed by the media.
As a side note, I would also like to know of any interesting studies, editorials, or analytical pieces about the general subject of public service announcements, trends in that area, and their effectiveness.
I have been researching this area on my own, but I thought I might get some great ideas here.
Every semester for freshman composition, I assign an essay asking students to analyze advertisements. I’ve chosen a new textbook this semester, and it has a section on public health messages, so I thought I would tweak the assignment to focus on public health and public service announcements. So far, I am including the Montana Meth Project, the It Gets Better campaign, and the Above the Influence campaign as options, but I would like to add at least two more. I know that I have heard of interesting campaigns against smoking and texting, but I didn’t take specific note of them at the time. The campaigns should have at least three different commercials or videos. They can be from any country, but they should be in English. I also ask students to include some secondary sources, so it would be best if these were campaigns that were noticed by the media.
As a side note, I would also like to know of any interesting studies, editorials, or analytical pieces about the general subject of public service announcements, trends in that area, and their effectiveness.
I have been researching this area on my own, but I thought I might get some great ideas here.
I thought this was cool as one of the few British road safety vids to actually be uplifting, rather than gross or creepy.
Wiki article on the ad here.
posted by the latin mouse at 10:35 AM on March 4, 2011 [2 favorites]
Wiki article on the ad here.
posted by the latin mouse at 10:35 AM on March 4, 2011 [2 favorites]
The NYC Dept. of Public Health stirred up a hornet's nest when it produced a PSA about HIV/AIDS. You can see it here. (Video may not be SFW; the site it's on may also not be SFW.)
posted by rtha at 11:08 AM on March 4, 2011
posted by rtha at 11:08 AM on March 4, 2011
It Rarely Stops. It isn't multiple ads, but still pretty powerful.
posted by cashman at 11:40 AM on March 4, 2011
posted by cashman at 11:40 AM on March 4, 2011
This PSA challenging perceptions of living in Africa is funny and adorable.
posted by spamguy at 12:45 PM on March 4, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by spamguy at 12:45 PM on March 4, 2011 [2 favorites]
The Keira Knightley domestic violence PSA.
The Montana Meth Project is pretty over-the-top.
The British texting while driving PSA is damned grim.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 5:44 PM on March 4, 2011
The Montana Meth Project is pretty over-the-top.
The British texting while driving PSA is damned grim.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 5:44 PM on March 4, 2011
Response by poster: Thanks for directing me to all of these great ads. I didn't end up using any of them for the assignment itself, as I really did need campaigns with more than one ad. However, I did use many of these for in-class exercises.
posted by TrarNoir at 1:16 PM on April 3, 2011
posted by TrarNoir at 1:16 PM on April 3, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by 2bucksplus at 10:29 AM on March 4, 2011