Like fanny packs, stonewashed denim, and choker necklaces, public service announcements reached their zenith in the ‘80s and ‘90s — but businesses and celebrities are finding a place for them in the marketplace again.
Those who came of age in the ‘90s remember NBC’s “The More You Know” PSA series, which taught America about everything from bullies to smoking. Continuing the campaign long after its teen shows like Saved by the Bell went off the air, NBC eventually added modern-day pop culture references into the mix, from Dwight Schrute of The Office to Shakira. The series has morphed to fit digitally savvy audiences and now runs as video banner ads.
Likewise, the Partnership for a Drug-Free America’s 1997 “Your brain on drugs” PSA has been revitalized. Its original star, Rachael Leigh Cook, warned viewers of the dangers of using drugs and smashed the contents of a diner to underscore the damage drugs could do to a person’s life. In the 2017 version, Cook talks about the lives convicted drug users face compared to drug users without a record — this time, focusing on the drug policy conversation for a modern audience.
These throwback messages aren’t the only ones gaining airtime — organizations and celebrities are pairing up to bring PSAs back in style in a content-driven world.
Changing Tactics, Changing Batteries
Perhaps the most eye-catching PSA of the new batch is Duracell’s work with Milo Ventimiglia. Ventimiglia plays Jack Pearson, the patriarch of NBC’s This Is Us, who experienced cardiac arrest after inhaling smoke while saving his family from a fire. Because their smoke detector needed fresh batteries, the family didn’t notice the fire until it was almost too late.
The episode depicting Pearson’s death aired after the Super Bowl in February, drawing the most post-Super Bowl viewers in six years and the most viewers for a post-Super Bowl scripted show in a decade — despite lackluster ratings for the game itself. With just shy of 27 million viewers catching the episode, Duracell recognized it had a captive audience and a compelling message to transmit via the show’s storyline.
The battery brand partnered with Ventimiglia to craft a PSA reminding people to replace the batteries in their smoke detectors at Daylight Saving Time. The ad delivers a list of ways Daylight Saving wreaks havoc on people after they lose an hour of sleep, and then we hear about a way to make the time change worthwhile: by changing the batteries in our smoke detectors.
“I thought it was the right moment to team up with Duracell, especially on Daylight Saving, to remind people when they’re changing their clocks, put a new set of Duracell batteries into your smoke detectors. It will help alert you if there is in fact a fire,” said Ventimiglia. “Two-thirds of fire deaths are because there's faulty equipment or smoke detectors aren’t present. I know even in my home, I’ve changed all mine since learning this statistic.”
Getting Ambitious
In honor of last year’s International Women’s Day, designer Tory Burch released a PSA featuring a bevy of celebrities. The PSA, created as part of the fashion mogul’s Tory Burch Foundation, focused on the foundation’s mantra: “Embrace ambition.” Its release coincided with the “A Day Without a Woman” strike, in which women worldwide stopped working in order to highlight the injustices facing working women globally while emphasizing how much the economy hinges on their efforts.
In that vein, Burch’s PSA features well-known women, from Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg to Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon, addressing the belief that “ambition” is an acceptable word to use to describe a man, but it’s a “dirty word” when applied to women. The PSA encourages women to embrace the term and exercise their birthright to be ambitious.
“We must address the stereotypes that hold women back,” Burch said. “If women are truly to achieve parity, we need to own our bold ideas, celebrate our aspirations, and embrace ambition. It comes down to owning your desire to grow and thrive or to make a difference whether it’s at work, at home, or through your actions and social responsibility.” She said in interviews that the issue was one of human rights, and the events that have transpired in the year since have only strengthened the PSA’s message.
Being Poked and Prodded in the Name of Progress
NBC’s TODAY morning show has highlighted a variety of causes and issues over the years. Last year, producers decided to film a PSA to discuss prostate exams. The segment, which incorporates the show’s stars alongside Andy Cohen of Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, shows the men arguing over who will pay for the check at a restaurant, only for Cohen to encourage them all to get the check. The TODAY men then appear in hospital gowns for their prostate exams.
Focusing on the stats showing that between one in six and one in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer — as well as the fact that African-American men or those with a family history of cancer are at higher risk — the PSA impresses upon viewers the importance of getting screenings.
“For a lot of guys, this isn’t exactly glamorous,” said Carson Daly of TODAY. “I’m 44, but I have some history with cancer in my family.” He explained the team’s willingness to drop their trousers on camera: “If it just changes one person’s mind to actually get motivated to go get checked, then it’s worth it. Real men get checked.”
Businesses and celebrities are still tastemakers, and both groups are seeing the value of the PSA as a powerful, adaptable format — not a relic for nostalgia. As our digital world becomes more captivated by content, the PSA serves a renewed purpose: sharing important messages through an easily consumable medium.
William Arruda is the cofounder of CareerBlast and creator of the complete LinkedIn quiz that helps you evaluate your LinkedIn profile and networking strategy.
