Public Service Announcements
I was reading Travis Miller’s latest post “A Public Service Announcement” on his blog Miller’s Musings.
While he is not writing in a public relations context, Public Service Announcements (PSA) are an important tool in the communications arsenal. A PSA is an advertisement, usually on radio or television, non-commercial in nature, that is supposedly offered for the public good. In reality a PSA is a tool used to modify public opinions and attitudes by raising awareness about specific issues.
PSA’s are most frequently used in public awareness campaigns about issues of health and safety. While they are not explicitly commercial and do not offer items for sale they may be produced by corporations seeking to raise awareness of their products. For instance, a manufacturer of hand soap or hand sanitizer may produce a PSA on the known benefits of hand washing in the prevention of flu’s and colds. While not directly selling product the PSA directly and indirectly raises and awareness and promotes its use.
PSA’s have been used extensively by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in their themed campaigns to ostensibly promote family values, of course, ending with the tag line “brought to you by…” I’m not sure what their statistics are regarding the campaigns effectiveness but from some unchurched people that I have spoken to the opinion has been that the Mormons are strong on family values. Got to score that as a win for them.
The goal of a PSA is not mere short term gain but a long term shaping of attitudes and perceptions. For a church it may be an association with family values, food banks, clothing depots, help for alcohol and drug addiction, money management or even public safety.
For instance a sample PSA could be something like this: “Every year 6 out of 10 children who die in automobile accidents haven’t been buckled up. Before you turn the key check the buckles - protect the lives of those most important to you. Brought to you by your friends at Hope Church.” This would run about 15 seconds and could very easily be expanded to 30 by using sound effects and additional copy. It doesn’t invite the listener to attend a worship service but it does promote an image of a church which cares about children and it gets the churches name into their mind in a positive light.
If you’ve got any comments or ideas of how PSA’s could be used by churches please leave a comment.
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