PSAs are tough. To be specific: Effective PSAs are tough. Effective PSAs are tough because you’re trying to communicate with an audience that doesn’t understand what you’re talking about, is already suspicious of your message, or both. (Column B there usually also has a pretty heavy dose of Column A as well.) When you’re trying to convey a difficult message to an audience that isn’t all in already:
1. You have to give as much of an overview as is necessary to inform the least-informed among your audience…
2. … in the space of, like, thirty seconds.
3. You have to grab people’s attention and give them a reason to consume your message…
4. … without making light of a serious issue.
5. You have to convey the gravity of the situation…
6. … without seeming melodramatic or alarmist.
So, y’know, no pressure.
But individuals, organizations, and agencies are trying, and a few have really hit it out of the park on all three (or six, whatever) points above. Here are three that show how to get the job done.
“In This Together” (Real Art Design Group)
First, I want to send out love to the poor assistants who definitely got a fingertip snapped setting up all the mousetraps in this PSA for the Ohio Department of Health, and I want to give extra love to them for the time one of them inevitably popped early and set off the chain reaction right before the director yelled “Action.” (Wasn’t there. Just guessing.)
But I also want to send out love to the creative team for a great metaphor for contagion and a great illustration of the importance of social distancing. Everything in this video from concept to music to sound design and editing was great, presenting a really compelling message about how crucial it is to keep social interactions FaceTime-centric at the moment.
“In Out” (Various and sundry creatives*)
And another all-around-flawless way to convey that message. This very, very simple PSA in support of the UK’s National Health Service puts the focus on the people on the business end of efforts to #FlattenTheCurve etc.: the ones whose lives are at stake.
With nothing but sound design, the most straightforward of copy, and white letters on a blue screen, the video puts the audience right there in the ICU in a way that can’t be accused of melodrama or exaggeration — just the reality of the situation and the reality of what everyone needs to do to address it. I got chills.
*The “various and sundry creatives” there are Simon Ratigan at HLA, Paul Watts at The Quarry, Warren Hamilton and Parv Thind at Wave, and former Fallon ECD Nick Bell.
“Stay safe. Stay home.” (MullenLowe LA)
This ad from Providence Healthcare shares the perspective of the health system’s “120,000 caregivers,” featuring photos of actual healthcare workers in the process of performing the difficult task of caring for people who might have the disease and people who do.
Okay, I’m not gonna lie, I’m not crazy about the choice of music. It’s just a little too upbeat for this purpose — it would be great for a “thank you to all our frontline healthcare workers” ad, but not so much for messaging that essentially says, “I just intubated my fifth patient today, and statistically, four of them probably aren’t going to make it, so maybe, for the sake of my mental and their physical health, stay home until the crisis period has passed.” However, the photos — many of them taken by the healthcare workers themselves — and the CTA are compelling: This is difficult, and we need you to do your part in not making it more difficult.
Why they’re great
The videos are powerful because they don’t just implore people to stay at home — they show the alternative. They show why you should stay at home. And the why is what makes ads effective. Yes, the star-studded PSAs some of the big media companies are putting out certainly grab the attention (and if a cigar-smoking Arnold Schwarzenegger in a hot tub urging you to stay home isn’t compelling, I don’t know what is). But these videos — only one of which was made by a national agency, because creativity isn’t the sole purview of the big guys — hit at a deeper level.
Have I missed any other good ones? Drop them in comments. Oh! And also, I forgot to mention: Please stay at home. I know it’s not possible for everyone (ahemessentialworkersforcedtoputthemselvesatriskforlowpayahem), and I know it’s hard for the rest of us, but it’s important because… I mean, watch the videos.