Public service advertising aims to inform the public about issues in the best interest of the community, often sponsored by non-profit organizations and government agencies. PSAs focus on health, conservation, and safety issues and are broadcast on radio, television, newspapers, and magazines. They are commonly produced by private media and advertising companies for free and are often presented immediately following a broadcast on sensitive issues. The requirement for PSAs to receive broadcast licenses was eliminated in the 1980s.
Public service advertising is designed to inform the public about issues that are often considered to be in the best general interest of the community at large. Typically, it reflects a political point of view, a philosophical theory, a religious concept or a humanitarian notion. It is also commonly referred to as a public service announcement (PSA) or community service announcement (CSA). Advertisements are usually broadcast on radio or television, but may also appear in newspapers or magazines. They are prevalent in industrialized countries around the world.
PSAs commonly aim to alter public attitudes by increasing awareness of particular issues. Health, conservation and safety issues are prevalent in many PSAs. Public service advertising campaigns are often sponsored by trade associations, civic organizations, non-profit institutions or religious groups. The US military, in addition to paid advertising, regularly produces PSA as part of their recruiting efforts.
Some PSA ads use celebrity spokespersons to get attention. Others attempt to appeal to the masses through portrayal of risks and issues relevant to ordinary men, women and children. A common misconception about PSA’s work is that it includes ads for political campaigns, which are actually privately funded.
Most public service advertising involves joint efforts of the private and public sectors. Non-profit groups and government agencies usually team up with private media, promotion and advertising companies to produce commercials for radio, television and print. Most commonly, the non-profit agency creates the message and an advertising company develops the campaign, polishes it to meet industry standards, and plans its distribution, all for free. Television and radio stations usually broadcast these advertisements for free, and magazines and newspapers also publish them for free.
In recent years, it has become commonplace for US television broadcasters to present public service commercials immediately following a broadcast that focused on an issue considered sensitive and of concern to many members of the general public. These PSA broadcasts generally offer toll-free addresses, websites, and phone numbers for news sources. Some of the topics focused in the PSAs include rape, child abuse, domestic violence, AIDS, and civil rights.
Public service advertising was once a requirement for U.S. radio and television stations to receive their broadcast licenses from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The stations agreed to carry a predetermined number of PSAs, which they normally broadcast during off-peak hours to avoid interference with paid advertisements from sponsors. Deregulation of the broadcasting industry in the 1980s eliminated this requirement.
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