How many of you have seen a Thanksgiving commercial? What has happened to remembering this holiday? Does it still have meaning in our country?
Since October 11, 2013, commercials have been airing for Christmas! That's well before Halloween! See the ads in the posts below for samples of holiday commercials that have been airing during the months of October and November. Is this okay? Does this diminish the meaning of Thanksgiving and Christmas?
You have been hired to create a PSA (Public Service Announcement). Below is information on what a PSA is and how you go about creating one.
What is a PSA?
Public service announcements, or PSA's, are short messages produced on film, videotape, DVD, CD, audiotape, or as a computer file and given to radio and television stations. They can be done very simply with a single actor reading or performing a message, or they can be elaborate, slickly-produced messages with music, dramatic story-lines, and sound or visual effects.
How do you write a PSA?
Decide upon and clarify the purpose of your PSA. What are your goals here? What do you want to accomplish by putting a PSA on the air? Target your audience. What type of people are you hoping to reach through your PSA?
Key points to remember about the writing:
- Because you've only got a few seconds to reach your audience (often 30 seconds or less), the language should be simple and vivid. Take your time and make every word count. Make your message crystal clear.
- The content of the writing should have the right "hooks" -- words or phrases that grab attention -- to attract your audience (again, you need to know who your audience is).
- The PSA should usually (though maybe not 100% of the time) request a specific action, such as calling a specific number to get more information. You ordinarily want listeners to do something as a result of having heard the PSA.
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