PSA Analysis Essay

though the actual words do not entirely factor in the announcement. The popularly used appeal is emotional/ audience appeal. Background voices make the context resemble a bar environment implying that the PSA intends to speak directly to the people who enjoy hanging out in bars. Emotional appeal is observable in the nature of message posted; emphasis on losing the pleasures of life such as a friend. The purpose is to show people that drinking is less important in comparison to other social aspects of living. It has an effective appeal and addresses personal issues concerning life and relationship between drinking and sustainable happiness. The effectiveness of the appeal is achieved by developing the message around the loss of savings, moving in with your mom, lose your girlfriend, and having to face further ruin when required to pay a 10000 dollars penalty fee. The connection between visual and narrative structure emerges when the environment where the advertisement is presented is considered and the utility of lip images and cocktail glasses.

$10,000 That You Don't Have

“$10,000 That You Don't Have” is a PSA concerning drunk driving and its repercussions. It is a video advertisement that has more effective narrative than visual tools. According to Dancyger (2007, pg 366), presenting images at a slight angle delivers better continuity than shooting images at 90 degrees. The visual tools mainly involve the display of an engaging video, while the narrative aspects concern a detailed explanation of the events that are likely to transpire if the subjects drive under the alcoholic influence. Narrative techniques emerge in the form of speeches by officials and experts dealing with insurance, enforcement, and litigation concerning anti-drunk

driving policy. The PSA uses factual appeal; several facts concerning the financial and legal consequences of drunk driving are revealed with the intention of influencing people`s attitudes towards driving while intoxicated. It has an effective appeal to action; it addresses personal issues by highlighting that actions have consequences and telling that upon making certain choices one should expect to specific eventualities. The climax of the PSA involves the remark made by a legal officer disclosing that the accrued financial responsibility if charged with driving under the influence is close to $10,000. The connections between narrative and visual structure are not elaborate but might be understood concerning presenting informed people to aid in raising awareness.

Texting Dentist PSA

This PSA employs very effective visual and narrative tools; however, the visual tools seem to more effective. “A fine example of a fear-evoking appeal is a popular American 1970s public service announcement, “The minute you stop smoking, your lungs begin to heal,” (Wosinska et al., 2000, pg 270). In consideration of that PSA “Texting Dentist PSA” can be interpreted as a fear appeal announcement, it instills fear in the audience and aims to bring awareness about the dangers of texting when undertaking other tasks. The manner in which the dentist is revealed as a reckless individual who engages in texting and chatting with friends on social media gains more weight when the narrative aspects of the PSA are noted. Voice narrative tools are exposed through the dentist`s constant try to involve the patient in an irrelevant conversation. The PSA appeals to the audience to find relevance in the message. It exploits audience emotions to inspire heuristic decision-making processes. The announcement

has an effective appeal to action to confront reckless behavior of texting when tackling delicate matters. The dentist`s actions and chatter are instrumental in linking the narrative structure to the visual structure. The narrative focus on texting relates to visual structures when the dentist carelessly takes photographs while simultaneously moving dentistry tools in the patient's mouth.

Stop Texting

In this context, the most effective tool is the narrative. The message relies on the employment of narrative techniques. Visual aspects provide a basic platform for communication while the narrative effectively helps present the facts about texting and concentration on other tasks during multitasking. The narrative techniques used include voices and crashing sounds. Voice is used to the audience that texting takes a driver`s eyes off the road for a period that is sufficient to cause an accident while the crash sound emphasizes on the accident. This PSA utilizes appeals to evidence. It reveals facts about the amount of time taken to respond or, at least, recognize texts when driving. Effective appeal to action concerns advocating that people should refrain from texting and driving. It appeals to personal issues and responsible driving practices. Video presentation creates the link between narrative and visual by facilitating the rolling out of the message, plot, and affective elements of the PSA. The sequence of events is best revealed through the visual structure. Images inspire imagination and complement the narrative structure that mainly involves a vocal disclosure of facts.

In conclusion, PSAs are brief advertisements that are designed to deliver a specific message by exploiting image, music, and or words. Considering the PSAs; tough consequences, $10,000 that you don't have, texting dentist PSA, and stop

texting, the narrative and visual structures of a presentation can have equally significant weight. However, the distinguishing factor is whether, or not the announcement achieves effective appeal.

References

1. Dancyger, K. (2007). The technique of film and video editing. Amsterdam: Focal Press.
2. DILLARD, J. and PECK, E. (2000). Affect and Persuasion: Emotional Responses to Public Service Announcements. Communication Research, online 27(4), pp.461-495. Available at: http://crx.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/27/4/461 Accessed 21 Feb. 2016.
3. Wosinska, W., Cialdini, R., Barrett, D. and Reykowski, J. (2000). The Practice of Social Influence in Multiple Cultures Applied Social Research Series. Psychology Press, p.270.