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Educational advertisements are ad campaigns in which the creators attempt to inform, update, or persuade the public to engage in or avoid current issues. This type of advertisement is often negatively associated with
propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loa ...
. While similar to public service announcements, educational advertisements often cross into commercial fields whereas
public service announcements A public service announcement (PSA) is a message in the public interest disseminated by the media without charge to raise public awareness and change behavior. In the UK, they are generally called a public information film (PIF); in Hong Kong, ...
are oriented on strict non-profit basis. Educational advertisements focus on a number of modern social, political, religious, and consumer-based issues. They traditionally appear on television and radio, but more and more campaigns are turning to the internet, especially email, as a cheap and efficient way to spread their messages. While most educational advertisements are deployed in the United States of America, there have been campaigns across Europe, Canada, and New Zealand. However, due to the dependence on technology to broadcast their messages, campaigns usually appear in developed countries where the largest possible population is likely to encounter their message.


History

Educational advertising emerged with the advent of broadcast
television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication Media (communication), medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of Transmission (telecommunications), television tra ...
. The
Ad Council The Advertising Council, commonly known as the Ad Council, is an American nonprofit organization that produces, distributes, and promotes public service announcements on behalf of various sponsors, including nonprofit organizations, non-governm ...
of the first genuine organizations specializing in the creation and management of these advertisements. This council played a crucial role in garnering public support during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. However, during the social upheaval that followed in the 1960s, they soon focused primarily on public service announcements rather than some of the more commercial aspects that educational advertisements are associated with. Some of these included the famous “
Crying Indian Keep America Beautiful is a nonprofit organization founded in 1953. It is the largest community improvement organization in the United States, with more than 700 state and community-based affiliate organizations and more than 1,000 partner organiz ...
” and “
Smokey Bear Smokey Bear is an American campaign and advertising icon of the U.S. Forest Service. In the Wildfire Prevention Campaign, which is the longest-running public service announcement campaign in United States history, the Ad Council, the United St ...
” campaigns. This type of advertising first began in America during the World War II. It was first introduced by radio broadcasters, and advertisers by promoting war efforts and ultimately,
propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loa ...
. Educational advertising, also considered public service announcements
Public service announcements A public service announcement (PSA) is a message in the public interest disseminated by the media without charge to raise public awareness and change behavior. In the UK, they are generally called a public information film (PIF); in Hong Kong, ...
, have made a major impact in society and history. Having advertisements that educate the people, is helpful in various aspects, but mostly helps spread the word of an important cause or event to the masses of people at one time. Today, educational advertising can range from non-profitable organizations to political campaigns. Educational advertisements, rather than attempt to inform the public about activities damaging to them or the environment, focused more on ways people could get engaged and involved in social and political issues of the day. These advertisements generally had some motive aside from simply delivering information. Some of these included
war bond War bonds (sometimes referred to as Victory bonds, particularly in propaganda) are debt securities issued by a government to finance military operations and other expenditure in times of war without raising taxes to an unpopular level. They are ...
ads which, while lacking corporate sponsors, still attempted to sell the public something instead of just delivering information. Some of these included war bond ads which, while lacking corporate sponsors, still attempted to sell the public something instead of just delivering information. Other wartime advertisements include the “
Loose Lips Sink Ships Loose lips sink ships is an American English idiom meaning "beware of unguarded talk". The phrase originated on propaganda posters during World War II. The phrase was created by the War Advertising Council and used on posters by the United State ...
” campaign that began in Britain and the “Stamp ‘em Out” campaign that spread through America. Most of these types of educational advertisements, especially those airing in the U.S.S., can be closely associated with
American propaganda Propaganda in the United States is spread by both government and media entities. Propaganda is carefully curated information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread, usually to preserve the self-interest of a nation. It is used in advertising, rad ...
efforts. This is one of the main reasons that these types of advertisement campaigns are often cast in a negative light. Their primary focus is not always to inform the public, but persuade them into some sort of action for mainly political reasons.


Public reaction

There are mixed views on the broadcasting of educational advertisements. While many people see these messages as good ways to reach segments of the populace that wouldn’t otherwise put forth the effort to research current social issues, others worry about the true motives behind the campaigners. They argue that widespread non-profit advertisements should remain as neutral as possible and avoid efforts to persuade people politically. Despite efforts to shut certain campaigns down, educational advertisements still appear in all manners of media, especially since email became the central form of communication.


Recent campaigns

In the final stretch of the 2008 Presidential race, all forms of media were saturated with different educational advertisement campaigns. One of the more famous of these was
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
’s thirty-minute infomercial “American Stories, American Solutions”, which aired on seven different networks. While this was not the first thirty-minute political advertisement (
H. Ross Perot Henry Ross Perot (; June 27, 1930 – July 9, 2019) was an American business magnate, billionaire, politician and philanthropist. He was the founder and chief executive officer of Electronic Data Systems and Perot Systems. He ran an indep ...
in 1992) to air on national television, it did reach over six million viewers nationwide. Many believed such an advertisement was excessive and intrusive as it left only one major broadcasting company (
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
) open. The
We Campaign The Climate Reality Project is a non-profit organization involved in education and advocacy related to climate change. The Climate Reality Project came into being in July 2011 as the consolidation of two environmental groups, the Alliance for Cli ...
is an example of a massive online campaign circulating through email today. While it in itself primarily raises awareness for the environment as a public service announcement would, it is also an offshoot of a larger political organization called the
Alliance for Climate Protection The Climate Reality Project is a non-profit organization involved in education and advocacy related to climate change. The Climate Reality Project came into being in July 2011 as the consolidation of two environmental groups, the Alliance for Cli ...
. This organization, founded by former
US Vice President The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice pr ...
Al Gore, serves as a political platform from which Gore can deliver his message. It is due to its political associations that this campaign is considered primarily an educational advertisement instead of a public service announcement. “Vote or Die”, a campaign started by the
Citizen Change Citizen Change is a political service group, founded in 2004 by musician P. Diddy, and backed by Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey and 50 Cent. The stated aim was to get young people and minorities to vote. A band named CitiZEN Change from Galveston, T ...
organization, is another example of a politically charged educational advertisement. This campaign, headed by celebrity
Sean Combs Sean Combs (born Sean John Combs; November 4, 1969), also known by his stage names Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Puffy, or Diddy, is an American rapper, actor, record producer, and record executive. Born in New York City, he worked as a talent directo ...
was directed at America’s youth during the
Elections in 2004 An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
. This campaign was criticized its violent and over the top approach to voter apathy. After a rather ineffective run, it largely disbanded in 2006.


Controversy

Educational advertisements often spark major controversies because of their attempts to persuade the public on political and religious matters.
Lyle Stuart Lyle Stuart (born Lionel Simon; August 11, 1922June 24, 2006) was an American author and independent publisher of controversial books. He worked as a newsman for years before launching his publishing firm, Lyle Stuart, Incorporated. A former pa ...
, publisher of “ L. Ron Hubbard: Messiah or Madman?” took all of the profits from the book and used them to create an educational advertisement against the Church of Scientology. These types of campaigns which directly attack religious associations are often seen as very controversial.
Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...
recently banned a United Kingdom evangelical Christian charity from placing advertisements focused on abortion. Although the campaign was entirely factual, such displays often stir emotions that result in negative attention for corporations.


References

{{reflist


Sources

*Hoveland, Roxanne, and Gary Wilcox. ''Advertising in Society''. Chicago: NTC Business Books, 1989. Print. *Dyer, Gillian. ''Advertising as Communication''. New York: Methuen & Co. Ltd, 1982. Print. *Smelt, Maurice. ''What Advertising Is''. London: Pelham Books Ltd, 1972. Print. *Ekelund, Robert, and David Saurman. ''Advertising and the Market Process''. San Francisco: Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy, 1988. Print. *Cronin, Anne. Advertising Myths. New York: Routledge, 2004. Print. *Rank, Hugh. The Pitch. Park Forest IA: The Counter-Propaganda Press, 1982. Print. *Dupuis, Martin, and Keith Boeckelman. Barack Obama, the New Face of American Politics. Westport CT: Praeger Publishers, 2008. Print. *"We Can Solve It." Climate Protection. Climate Protection. 15 Apr 2009 . *"Spotlight on Golden Age Advertising." Wartime Advertising. 15 Apr 2009 . *"Google AdWords." Information Week. Information Week. 15 Apr 2009 . *"Alliance for Climate Protection." Climate . Climate Protection. 15 Apr 2009 . *"Ad Council: About Ad Council." Ad Council. Ad Council. 15 Apr 2009 . Advertising