From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A public service announcement (PSA) or community service announcement (CSA) is a non-commercial advertisement typically on radio or television, ostensibly broadcast for the public good.

The main concept is to modify public attitudes by raising awareness about specific issues.

The most common topics of PSAs are health and safety, although any message considered to be "helpful" to the public can be a PSA. A typical PSA will be part of a public awareness campaign to inform or educate the public about an issue such as smoking or compulsive gambling.

Often, an organization releasing a PSA may enlist the support of a celebrity, examples being Michael J. Fox's PSAs in the U.S. supporting research into Parkinson's Disease, or Crips street gang leader Stanley "Tookie" Williams speaking from prison, urging youth not to join gangs.

Some religious groups produce PSAs on non-religious themes such as family values, as a means of increasing awareness of their church, and to show the role the church has in serving the community. Examples include the long-running "Homefront" campaign from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and more recently the United Methodist Church. Also, the military produces PSAs to recruit enlistees, alongside paid advertising and sponsorship efforts.

In the U.S, the role of PSAs was affected by deregulation of the broadcasting industry in the 1980s. Previously, a broadcast license was assigned to a television or radio station that was expected to serve as a "public trustee" by airing, among other requirements, frequent PSAs. Continued licensure no longer depends strictly on programming content, and the number of PSAs that are deliberately scheduled has declined, yet new PSAs continue to be produced and aired.

Today, TV and radio stations will use PSAs to demonstrate their commitment to a particular cause, or as an easy way to fill unsold commercial time. Some large non-profit organizations, such as the American Cancer Society and Red Cross, choose to ensure play by purchasing commercial time for their campaigns. Smaller organizations, such as the American Indian College Fund, rely solely on voluntary media space to get their message out.

The Ad Council is the largest producer of PSAs in the United States, many of which involve a substantial budget and are distributed commercially. Other producers such as Salo Productions specialize in traditional PSAs distributed to station PSA directors.

• Jem: "Doing the right thing makes you a superstar!"
• Sailor Moon (American Version): "Sailor Moon Says!"
• The Incredible Crash Dummies: "You can learn a lot from a Dummy."
• G.I. Joe and Transformers: "And knowing is half the battle!"
• Heritage Minutes
• Hinterland Who's Who
• Mr. Funercise
• Just Say No
• Crying Indian (sponsored by Keep America Beautiful)
• Love. It Comes in All Colors
• Learn Not to Burn with Dick van Dyke
• McGruff the Crime Dog: "Take a bite out of crime!"
• NBC's One to Grow On
• Smokey Bear: "Only you can prevent forest fires!" and "Only You Can Prevent wildfires!"
• CBS Cares
• NBC's The More You Know
• ABC's A Better Community
• ABC Kids' Posse Philosophy
• This is Your Brain on Drugs
• I learned it by watching you
• I'm not a chicken, you're a turkey
• Woodsy Owl: "Give a hoot, don't pollute!" and "Lend a hand — care for the land!"
• Mr. Yuk
• Heather Crowe
• C.O.P.S. For Kids
• Don't You Put It In Your Mouth (sponsored by Health Canada)
• American Indian College Fund: "If I Stay On The Rez"
• Second hand smoke
• Marine Corps Toys for Tots
• The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog: "Sonic Sez" (One segment became a YTMND page)
• Captain Planet and the Planeteers: "Planeteer Alert!"
• Inspector Gadget: "Gadget Team Alert!"
• Click It or Ticket
• The Faster the Speed, the Bigger the Mess
• FUR...You Deserve It (anti-fur trading)
• Life or Meth, an Anti-Meth PSA by the department of justice that answers the question "What's it Cost?". It centers on a teen approaching a dealer about trying Crystal Meth for the first time, he asks "What's it Cost?" The dealer echos the teen's words as he speculates his potential customer's future. We cut to a nightmarish chain of events coupled with a series of disturbing hullcinations which shows the meth purchaser's spiral into addiction, which costs him his worldly possessions, his health, his sanity and eventually his life. It ends with the dealer stating with a grin that it costs "Forty Bucks". As the teen is buying the narcotic, his conscience/common sense is shown shaking his head and screaming.

• Public Information Film (television spots produced for the British government)
• cause marketing

• Ad Council, the largest producer of public service announcements in the United States.
• Salo Productions, producer of traditional public service announcements distributed to TV and radio station PSA directors.
• WestGlen Communications, a consultant, producer, and distributor of PSAs on television, radio, and the web.
• Goodwill Communications, Goodwill Communications, a distributor of public service materials to all media with a division specializing in cause related marketing.
• PSA Research Center, the only on-line information center dedicated solely to public service advertising, social issues and cause marketing.
• Attack of the PSAs 2: The Sequel and Attack of the PSAs - Blogs Remember the PSAs that you grew up with? Well, they're back. Every Wednesday there will be a new video of some of our favorite Public Service Announcements throughout time. And remember... Knowledge is Power!
• Partnership for a Drug-Free America, a well-known sponsor of public service announcements on a specific theme. The group behind the "This is your brain on drugs" TV spot.
• Homefront, 30 year campaign funded by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, promoting family values.
• American Indian College Fund, providing Tribal College scholarships to Native American students around the country.
• VIHdeo America: an anthology of 10 years of HIV TV spots in the Americas