When I think of a public service announcement (PSA) I think of those calling attention to impoverished countries or people suffering from HIV/AIDS and asking for our “friendly donations”. When I went to my Communications Research course last week Thursday and was told that we were going to watch a PSA, by Women’s Aids organization, on domestic violence I imagined that it would look somewhat similar to the PSAs I’ve seen in the past, boy was I wrong.
When the PSA about domestic violence began it looked like a clip taken from a movie. The clip was centered around what was supposed to be a “regular working woman” who comes home to an apartment that looks like the setting of a home invasion or kidnapping scene. A man emerges and I thought it was an intruder, but it turned out to be the woman’s upset boyfriend who proceeds to slap and punch her in the face until she falls to the ground and then kicks her.
At the end of the clip a screen pops up and it says: “2 women die from domestic violence every week. Help save lives. Donate $2 a month”. If I wasn’t confused before I was definitely confused now. How will donating $2 a month stop domestic violence? I understand that there are shelters and different programs to help women dealing with domestic violence and the money will go to that in some form or another, but I don’t think this was the correct platform to express a need for donations. Now I was questioning the reason behind this Women’s Aid PSA. I thought the purpose of the PSA was to bring about awareness on the issue. I know that public service announcements ask for donations all the time, but I don’t think this one got the point across to the audience so when donations are asked for at the end it seems out of place.
When I think of a PSA I think of real people, dealing with real issues and needing help; this PSA was a skit, so it lacked the realness of other PSAs that would make people want to help or donate money.
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