public service announcement

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The Pope Is in a New PSA, With an Urgent Message

Francis urges people to get vaccinated against COVID as 'an act of love'

(Newser) - In facing the COVID conundrum around the world, the "strength of faith" can help—but most of all, everyone who can should get vaccinated. That's the message of a new PSA featuring six cardinals and archbishops from North, South, and Central America, as well as one especially big...

Here's a Virus PSA You Probably Weren't Expecting

'Shaun of the Dead' actors Simon Pegg, Nick Frost parody their famous 2004 flick

(Newser) - It's been 16 years since Simon Pegg and Nick Frost battled zombies in the horror-comedy Shaun of the Dead , but they've just reanimated themselves for a very important take on another "apocalypse": the novel coronavirus. On Thursday, Pegg posted online the pair's "public service announcement"...

Celebrities Are Releasing Amusing, Weird Virus PSAs

Arnold and his tiny animals, Mel and his son urge you to stay home

(Newser) - Amid widespread calls to practice social distancing in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, celebrities are starting to get in on the movement. Among the video PSAs that have come out is one from Arnold Schwarzenegger, who, along with his miniature horse and his...

Alex Trebek Shares the Cancer Symptom He Ignored

And other warning signs that people should heed

(Newser) - World Pancreatic Cancer Day isn't until Nov. 21, but a new public service announcement with a big name attached is already helping spread awareness of the disease. The New York Daily News reports that Alex Trebek, who has been publicly documenting his own battle with the illness, appears in...

Tom Cruise: Your TV Settings Are Likely Wrong

Actor films PSA about the 'soap opera effect'

(Newser) - Tom Cruise is here today to talk to you about ... your TV settings. The actor (wearing his Top Gun: Maverick gear) filmed a PSA with director Chris McQuarrie about a feature of high-definition TVs called video interpolation or motion smoothing. It's meant to reduce motion blur when you're...

For 2 Years, PSA Told How to Hide Child Porn

Arizona's KAVV ends announcement after threats

(Newser) - An oldies country music radio station serving a rural Arizona area that aired a public service announcement for two years telling people how to hide potential evidence in child pornography cases has stopped doing so after advertisers received threats, the station's owner says. Paul Lotsof, owner of KAVV-FM in...

Philly Police Make Super Odd Anti-Drug PSA

It'll look familiar to anyone who watched Saved By The Bell

(Newser) - Why make your own PSA when you can just reuse one from the 1990s? That’s apparently the logic of the Philadelphia Police Department, which on Aug. 4 released an anti-drug PSA that probably looks familiar. It’s essentially the same one aired during a 1991 episode of Saved By ...

Delta In-Flight Ad Causes Stir
 Delta In-Flight Ad Causes Stir 

Delta In-Flight Ad Causes Stir

Pediatricians object to ad that advises asking questions about flu shots

(Newser) - Delta Airlines has announced that it will change its approval process for in-flight ads, after a PSA from the National Vaccine Information Center, a group that is often critical of vaccines, caused an uproar, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports. The ad , which will keep running through the end of November...

Meghan McCain Fires Back at Glenn Beck

His 'hot body' makes it easy for him to judge young women, she writes

(Newser) - After Glenn Beck mocked Meghan McCain's appearance in a PSA for skin cancer by pretending to vomit at the very thought, her mom came to her defense . Now Meghan herself has responded in her Daily Beast column, and it's a beaut: "As a person who is known...

Bullock Tries to Get Out of Gulf Ad ...

... after learning that it's sponsored by the oil industry

(Newser) - Sandra Bullock is fighting to get herself taken out of a prominent public service announcement for the Gulf after learning that the ad's sponsor has ties to the oil industry. The "Be the One" ad (see it in the video gallery) is sponsored in part by America's Wetland Foundation,...

Bristol Palin PSA Cautions Against Teen Pregnancy

She urges teens to 'pause before you play'

(Newser) - Bristol Palin urges teens to consider the consequences of a teen pregnancy in a new PSA. Produced by the Candie's Foundation, the ad shows Palin with son Tripp telling teens to "pause before you play," reports Huffington Post . It's an open-ended message that she tells ABC could mean...

PSAs Drive Bingers to Drink More: Study
 PSAs Drive Bingers 
 to Drink More: Study 
FEEL GUILTY, DROWN SORROWS

PSAs Drive Bingers to Drink More: Study

Drinkers already feel guilty; ads make them feel worse

(Newser) - The shaming quality of public-service announcements aimed at curbing binge drinking actually pushes such drinkers to imbibe more. And, a study finds, the spots are often so guilt-inducing that they can push someone feeling bad about some other malfeasance—cheating, say—to drink. One of the researchers suggests a different...

Joaquin Phoenix Cleans Up for PSA With ... Miley Cyrus

Star shaves, joins Cyrus, Liv Tyler to promote suicide prevention

(Newser) - Joaquin Phoenix has returned to the limelight, clean shaven and with a befuddling new pal: Miley Cyrus. In a PSA for a suicide-prevention group, Cyrus shares her computer skills with Phoenix—who pretends not to have a clue who she is—and a game Liv Tyler, E! reports. “A...

James Lipton Begs You Not to Sext

Sexting is on the rise, but Lipton asks you to 'give it a ponder' first

(Newser) - Teen sexting is on the rise—and just in time, James Lipton is here to assess the threat and give naive picture swappers everywhere some sage advice. A new survey by MTV and the AP shows that nearly one-third of youths have sent or received nude photos, Wired reports. To...

'Save the Boob' Ads Turn Heads, Spark Complaints

Cutting-edge ads seek to reach younger women

(Newser) - Just because breast cancer is serious, does that mean PSAs have to be?  "Save the boob" is the tag line on one irreverent video in a campaign for breast cancer awareness that's drawing fans—and furious complaints. Designers of the public service announcements aim to grab the attention younger...

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