First, whether it's politically correct or not, the fact is that certain social problems are more prevalent in some demographics than others. There's more domestic violence among high school drop out first generation immigrants cohabiting than there is among married white college grads in Vermont. There's more AIDS among gay drug users than among heterosexual non drug users, etc.
However, it's remarkable that the public service messages are often targeted at the wrong demographics (both in content - e.g. the white middle-class couple in this photo, and in medium - e.g. in bus shelters in middle class areas).
Why is this done?
The vast majority of people involved in organizations that create public service ads are politically of the left, are innumerate, and hate admitting that problems are not spread evenly across all demographics.
So we get anti-HIV ads aimed at safe demographics instead of at-risk demographics.
This ad not only compounds that problem, but goes for the "clever" hook.
The excellent book _Tested Advertising Methods (Prentice Hall Business Classics)_ by John Caples and Fred E. Hahn talks about "clever" hooks - how, when they're A/B tested, they always fail. Creative types love funs, plays on words, etc.
...but all the evidence shows that this DOES NOT RESULT IN RESULTS.
The fact that this new poster is deployed is yet more evidence that the people involved in non-profits are innumerate.
The unstated goal of almost every non-profit is NOT to resolve the problem under debate, it is to maximize the span of control and the comfort of the people working at the non-profit.
First, whether it's politically correct or not, the fact is that certain social problems are more prevalent in some demographics than others. There's more domestic violence among high school drop out first generation immigrants cohabiting than there is among married white college grads in Vermont. There's more AIDS among gay drug users than among heterosexual non drug users, etc.
However, it's remarkable that the public service messages are often targeted at the wrong demographics (both in content - e.g. the white middle-class couple in this photo, and in medium - e.g. in bus shelters in middle class areas).
Why is this done?
The vast majority of people involved in organizations that create public service ads are politically of the left, are innumerate, and hate admitting that problems are not spread evenly across all demographics.
So we get anti-HIV ads aimed at safe demographics instead of at-risk demographics.
This ad not only compounds that problem, but goes for the "clever" hook.
The excellent book _Tested Advertising Methods (Prentice Hall Business Classics)_ by John Caples and Fred E. Hahn talks about "clever" hooks - how, when they're A/B tested, they always fail. Creative types love funs, plays on words, etc.
http://www.amazon.com/Advertising-Methods-Prentice-Business-...
...but all the evidence shows that this DOES NOT RESULT IN RESULTS.
The fact that this new poster is deployed is yet more evidence that the people involved in non-profits are innumerate.
The unstated goal of almost every non-profit is NOT to resolve the problem under debate, it is to maximize the span of control and the comfort of the people working at the non-profit.
Phil Greenspun touches on that here:
http://philip.greenspun.com/materialism/early-retirement/
So, in conclusion:
BAH! This ad embodies everything that is wrong with non-profits and public service ads.