Public service announcement - Definition and Overview

A public service announcement or PSA is a non-commercial "advertisement"—typically on U.S. or Canadian radio or television, broadcast for the public good.

Examples

Often, a celebrity promotes a foundation and asks for support which should be given by the listeners or viewers. Some are public awareness campaigns, lobbying against smoking or compulsive gambling, for example. Other examples include:

• Michael J. Fox's PSAs supporting research into Parkinson's Disease, from which he suffers;
• Hinterland Who's Who;
• 1970's Love. It Comes in All Colors; and
• NBC's series of The More You Know spots.

Compare with: propaganda

Example Usage of announcement