Entry 42 - PSA History 2

For the second part of PSA History, the article goes into talks about Public Relations Agents, who were created to influence public opinions about multiple issues.


Early Seeds of Public Relations
Another result of the Creel Committee was using what were called “public relations agents” who left a lasting legacy in the world of public marketing. Their work demonstrated the power of mass communication by creating a new breed of professionals whose job was to manipulate the “symbols of public opinion” to promote civic causes. This committee laid the foundation for using publicity and advertising to make “nationalism an American religion.⁵


Another interesting theme about these early efforts to influence public opinion was the use of symbols. There were those created by the political parties of the 19th century – in which “potent images of the soldier-statesman, the log cabin common man, the rough-and-ready frontiersman and the political sage” were used as tools to achieve popular support. These included the “Herald/Angel,” a female figure shown sometimes with wings or blowing a trumpet.⁶


According to Robert Jackall and Janice Hirota, who researched the history of public service advertising, these powerful images and calls to action were by no means the only factors in uniting the public on the war effort, but they did help mold public opinion. Today symbols also play an important role in campaigns dealing with drunk driving, cancer and AIDS.
PSAs played an important part in WWII as well, and became more formalized. Radio broadcasters and advertising agencies offered their skills and facilities in support of the war effort leading to establishment of the War Advertising Council, which became the official home front propaganda arm of the Office of War Information. Print, outdoor advertising and especially radio became the carriers of such messages as "Loose lips sink ships," "Keep 'em Rolling" and other messages supporting the purchase of War Bonds.⁷
In one of the most far-reaching of the war campaigns, Rosie the Riveter asserted, "We Can Do It!" She became America's wartime icon for women willing to roll up their sleeves and work in factories as a part of the war effort. With able-bodied men marching off to war, six million women moved into the workforce to replace the men and help manufacture war materiel. Another wartime campaign, Loose Lips Sink Ships, urged Americans to keep quiet about information that might be useful if heard by the enemy. At a time when Japanese and German submarines patrolled the US coastline, there was great need for secrecy concerning Navy maneuvers, troop movements, and other military matters.⁸

After the war, the tradition of making free space and radio time available for good causes continued. The public concerns of the 1920’s were mostly those dealing with health, leading up to the Great Depression in the early 30’s which spawned a plethora of public service messages on behalf of the Works Progress Administration, the National Recovery Act and the Civil Conservation Corps.
The practice of volunteering free media time and space had also become institutionalized and the War Advertising Council was renamed the Advertising Council. With the advent of television in the arly 50’s public service messages could be seen as well as heard.
Soon the public was seeing messages from "Smokey Bear" and other famous Ad Council campaigns such as "A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Waste," which raised millions for the United Negro College Fund, and the American Cancer Society's "Fight Cancer with a Checkup and a Check," which raised public awareness and funds.