PSAs
A Public Service Announcement (PSA) is an advertisement / commercial with the intention to change public interest or stimulate an action; the goal is not to sell a product.
The goal of a traditional or standard TV commercial is to market or sell a product, but a PSA is intended to change the public interest, educate the public, by raising awareness of an issue, affecting public attitudes, and potentially stimulating action.
PSA’s are a significant force in changing public attitudes on topics such as these:
Tips & Techniques for Creating a PSA
Mandatory Requirements
The goal of a traditional or standard TV commercial is to market or sell a product, but a PSA is intended to change the public interest, educate the public, by raising awareness of an issue, affecting public attitudes, and potentially stimulating action.
PSA’s are a significant force in changing public attitudes on topics such as these:
- Bullying
- Illegal downloading
- Serious crimes
- Animal protection
- Global warming or being green
- Family values
- Various health/safety issues.
- Not consuming too much media
Tips & Techniques for Creating a PSA
- Empower the Viewer – Call to action, convince the viewer to take the next step and do what the PSA wants them to do. Get the viewer to take responsibility, to change their life
- Shock the Viewer – Show the most negative effects that you want the viewer to avoid. Or show the most positive effects. Use emotion to convince the viewer to take action.
- Make every word count – script writing will be very important. You only have 30-60 seconds to get the viewer to change their life. Every single word of the script has to be perfectly chosen to get the viewer to take action. Edit your grammar and make sure the narrator will pronounce the words perfectly.
- Register the Name – Name your campaign. Give it a catchy name. Think about examples from class and from your own life. Come up with a catch phrase, a slogan, a special term that gets your point across creatively and seriously, yet fun as well. Repeat it at least once in the ad.
- Call to Action – Specific steps to take to solve the problem, to end the problem, to help you or others, etc. Maybe a website, a phone number, a specific event to go to, a specific action to take.
- Research – Make sure you are an expert on the topic of your PSA. Don’t give out false information. You want to shock the viewer and make it emotional, but don’t lie to the viewer. Exaggeration can work, but don’t cross the line and lie. Make sure it is factual.
- The Perfect Topic – Make your PSA about something you are passionate about or you know a lot about, and something you will have fun creating.
- Target Audience – Make sure you know who will be watching the PSA. A PSA for a teenager will have a totally different topic than a PSA for an old person.
- Perfect Script & Storyboard – We have done this for TV commercials and other films. Make a script and storyboard, and stick to them. It is difficult to improvise while making a PSA.
- Similar to a TV Commercial – It will be like a TV commercial, it will use advertising appeals and advertising execution techniques, but the product is a call to action instead of a physical object.
- Perfect Language – The narrator, actor, or person speaking on screen needs to sound like an expert, speak clearly, and say intelligent words.
Mandatory Requirements
- The PSA can be about any issue you want, but must be approved by the teacher and no repeats
- For Digital Media - the PSA must be related to media literacy / media and society
- Well-designed storyboard
- Script if necessary
- The benefits of taking the call to action must be mentioned. Show benefits of the call to action, benefits must be evident, convince the viewer to act
- Create a clever organization name
- Graphic logo for your organization
- Slogan
- Must tell a story with beginning, middle, end, and closure
- Optional: jingle
Watch the following examples to help guide and inspire you:
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