Hey You! Listen Up.

The importance of PSA

By Gracie Campbell

2 March 2022

The Ad Council has played a critical role in the influence of people for years, PSA’s have helped people understand what is going on and what is important because they are short, clear, and concise. The Ad Council has had a long history of helping to shape what people think is important during WW2 the Ad Council created the PSA “Lose Lips Sink Ships” to help remind people not to communicate to the enemy about the war. This PSA is still incredibly well known today. Also, the Ad Council is not a partisan group, so they are not pushing the agenda of a specific political party.

The Ad Councils PSAs are incredibly impactful to millions of viewers worldwide. The PSA Love Has No Labels has been viewed almost 400 million times which is crazy! The Ad Council bases their success in three ways exposure, awareness, engagement, and impact. This particular PSA has created positive change because it has helped to normalize love between different types of people. Since this campaign 75% of adults agree that there are things, they can do to create a more inclusive environment for others which is so important to make sure that all people feel safe and welcome when they enter a space.

The Ad Council has so many important topics of PSAs, but I have a few I found most interesting:

1. COVID-19 Vaccine Education- This is still such an important topic as America moves to open even more that people work to stay safe and vigilant so we can move forward from the pandemic.

2. Middle School Mental Health- After working so closely with this age group at camp I know how difficult it is for them to manage and understand their mental health and because of that it is 1. for them to manage and understand their mental health and because of that it is important to provide resources to them.

3. Lung Cancer Screening- This is a very personal topic for me as my grandfather has battled lung cancer for the last 11 years. We know that early detection is the key to surviving this disease so spreading screening information is vital.

So why is this all important?

As someone who wants to work in advocacy it is important for me to stay up to date on things that are important to those around me so I can work and fight for the greater good. By accessing and using PSA material I will be able to broaden my knowledge about topics making more a more well-rounded individual. Also, by creating my own PSAs I will have a tool box of information to advocate for others with.