United Kingdom After the war, PIFs were used to educate the public on a broader range of issues. In the UK, they were produced for the
Central Office of Information (COI), and again by private contractors, which were usually small film companies, such as
Richard Taylor Cartoons. They were supplied to broadcasters free of charge for use at any time. Their utility as a cost-free means to fill the gaps in commercial breaks left by unsold advertising airtime has led to their regular usage since the 1960s.
United States The most common topics of PSAs are health and safety, such as the multimedia "Emergency Preparedness & Safety Tips On Air and Online"
talk radio campaign. A typical PSA is part of a public awareness campaign to inform or educate the public about an issue such as
obesity or
compulsive gambling. One of the earliest television public service announcements came in the form of
Smokey Bear whose "Only you can prevent forest fires" campaign ran for decades. Other common early themes were traffic safety, especially safe crossing, wearing seat belts and not driving drunk, and the dangers of cigarette smoking. A
charitable organization may enlist the support of a celebrity for a PSA; examples include
actress Kathryn Erbe telling people to
be green and
Crips gang leader
Stanley Williams speaking from prison to urge youths not to join gangs or commit crimes. Some television shows featuring
very special episodes made PSAs after the episodes. For example,
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit talked about
child abduction in one episode, with a PSA about child abduction airing after the episode. After
My Sister Sam was canceled in 1988, surviving cast members
Pam Dawber,
Joel Brooks,
Jenny O'Hara, and
David Naughton were reunited to film a PSA for the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence on gun control after the murder of their co-star,
Rebecca Schaeffer, who was gunned down by a crazed fan on July 18, 1989, at Schaeffer's apartment in Los Angeles. During the 1980s, many American cartoon shows contained PSAs at the end of their shows to satisfy
federal regulations that required programming for children to be educational. Examples include the closing moral segments at the end of
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, the "Knowing is Half the Battle" epilogues in
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero,
The Transformers,
Jem,
M.A.S.K.,
Inspector Gadget, and the "Sonic Says" segments from
Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. PSAs are used as placeholders for unsold
commercials.
China China's first PSAs in 1986 were about saving water and were broadcast on Guiyang television. In
Hong Kong, terrestrial television networks have been required since
National Day 2004 to preface their main evening news broadcasts with a minute-long announcement in the public interest which plays the
Chinese National Anthem in
Mandarin over various patriotic montages.
Malaysia PSAs in Malaysia were produced in two mediums, namely messages and songs.
Filem Negara Malaysia (FNM) became the early pioneers of PSAs from its establishment in 1946 until its merger with the
National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (FINAS) in 2013. PSAs produced by FNM have topics such as
dengue fever,
drug addiction,
environmental pollution,
road safety and
electricity usage. Governmental agencies such as
Ministry of Health have produced PSAs to promote their Healthy Lifestyle Campaign which held annually from 1991 to 2013, with the "Utamakan Kesihatan" ("Choose Health") logo appearing at the end of their ads, most notably PSAs about
AIDS. PSAs on road safety were produced by
Ministry of Transport, particularly on accidents amongst motorcyclists and alcohol consumption amongst drivers. Some of their ads also using "Anda Mampu Mengubahnya" ("You Can Make a Difference") slogan and also using some of famous actors and actresses including the late
Adibah Noor and
Nabil Ahmad. Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment also produces PSAs focusing on environmental pollution, most notably the 1994 PSA entitled "Hentikan Pencemaran" ("Stop the Pollution"). PSAs on
corruption and
bribery were produced by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency (now
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission). Most of these PSAs were aired on
Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) and
TV Pendidikan between the 1990s and 2000s. Private TV networks like
TV3 have also produced in-house PSAs, covering topics such as not downloading pirated content, some of which feature actress and infotainer,
Janna Nick; and
domestic violence which features actress Eyra Hazali. There was a series of animated PSAs that was made by
Filem Negara Malaysia from 2008 till 2013 which is also commonly known as "Pak Abu PSAs" and was frequently shown in Malaysian TV channels. In 2021, the Malaysia Government produced a series of PSAs known as "Lindung Diri, Lindung Semua" ("Protect Yourself, Protect All"). The PSAs cover information about
COVID-19 vaccines and the benefits of vaccination. The series also features the
Prime Minister of Malaysia at that time,
Muhyiddin Yassin. ==Festivals and contests==