Hard-hitting PSAs, memes, and the Internet

Posted by irishg on March 8th, 2005 at 09:15am

Alex Steffen over at Worldchanging.com is profiling a new PSA campaign from Mine Action and the anti-landmine movement:

[The PSA]opens with a scene of idyllic suburban tranquility. A young family cheers on their daughter who has just scored a goal in her soccer match when she suddenly, violently explodes. Chaos consumes the scene while the mother of the victim shrieks hysterically and her father cradles her lifeless body. A simple graphic reads: “If there were landmines here, would you stand for landmines anywhere? Help the U.N. eradicate landmines everywhere.”

It’s a powerful piece, and just the latest example of shock-and-awe media campaigning for progressive causes.

The strategy stems from the view that in today’s over-stimulated 5000 channel mediasphere the only way to get a message through is to create a high-impact ad campaign that pushes the boundaries of visceral and emotional acceptance. This is the same approach used in a recent series of graphic prostate cancer PSA ads where doctors in an operating theatre extract a ticking time-bomb from an unfortunate man’s rectum. That PSA was banned from some major TV networks, which created a wave of extra publicity for the cause. Already there are signs that the anti-landmine PSA may be too hard-hitting for some TV networks, such as CNN.

The Internet offers an alternative medium for high-impact PSAs that get shut out of traditional mainstream media. Nothing spreads through the Internet faster than an idea, or meme, that catches on. File exchange networks — like Kazaa and BitTorrent, where surfers swap copyrighted music can also be used to quickly pass video ads throughout the Internet community.

In fact, a quick google on the net shows there may be something starting, as there is already a series of references to “the landmine ad that no one will broadcast”. In the end, that profile may be the most effective route for getting the anti-landmine message out.

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