Creative

44 Powerful Social Ads That Totally Nailed It… Absolutely Brilliant.

Advertising, in its non-commercial guise, is a powerful educational tool capable of reaching and motivating large audiences. According to “Father of Advertising” David Ogilvy, his contemporary, Howard Gossage, said “advertising justifies its existence when used in the public interest – it is much too powerful a tool to use solely for commercial purposes.”

Public service advertising reached its height during World Wars I and II under the direction of more than one government. Here we have collated some of the most creative and brilliant public interest ads. Can you get the message from these ads too?

Global Action In The Interest of Animals: Plastic Bags Kill

Advertising Agency: BBDO Malaysia, MALAYSIA, Kuala Lumpur / Advertising Agency: Duval Guillaume, Belgium

World Wide Fund For Nature: Frightening vs. More Frightening

Advertising Agency: DDB&CO., Istanbul, Turkey

Your Skin Color Shouldn’t Dictate Your Future

Advertising Agency: Publicis Conseil, Paris, France

Deforestation Continues With The Turn Of A Page

Advertising Agency: LINKSUS, Beijing, China

Terrorism-related deaths since 2001: 11,377. Tobacco-related deaths since 2001: 30,000,000

Unhate

Advertising Agency: Fabrica, Italy

Elm Grove Police Department: Slower Is Better

Advertising Agency: Cramer-Krasselt, Milwaukee, USA

Save Paper – Save The Planet

Advertising Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi, Copenhagen, Denmark

Air Pollution Kills 60.000 People A Year

Advertising Agency: unknown

Liking Isn’t Helping. Be A Volunteer. Change A Life

Advertising Agency: Publicis, Singapore

Bird Conservation: If You Don’t Pick It Up They Will

Advertising Agency: TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris, Johannesburg, South Africa

What We See When You Smoke

Advertising Agency: JWT, Atlanta, USA

Animal Anti-Cruelty League: That’s Not A Football

Advertising Agency: Lowe Bull, Cape Town, South Africa

Bangalore Traffic Police: Don’t Talk While Driving

Advertising Agency: Mudra Group, India

Child Soldiers: It’s Not Happening Here, But It’s Happening Now

Creative/Art director Pius Walker, Amnesty International, Switzerland.

If you don’t help feed them, who will? Please call Concordia Children’s.

Torture Victims Are People Just Like You And Me

Advertising Agency: Advico Y&R, Zurich, Switzerland

Stop The Violence: Don’t Drink And Drive

Advertising Agency: Terremoto Propaganda, Curitiba, Brazil

Premature Ending: “If you smoke, statistically your story will end 15% before it should.”

“THE END. If you smoke, statistically your story will end 15% before it should. For help with quiting call QUITTLINE on 0200 00 22 00″ (Advertising Agency: Iris, London, UK)

You can lose more than your patience.

Censorship Tells The Wrong Story

Advertising Agency: Memac Ogilvy & Mather Dubai, UAE

Distracted Driving: Think Of Both Sides

Advertising Agency: Red Pepper, Ekaterinburg, Russia

Every 60 Seconds a Species Dies Out. Each Minute Counts

Advertising Agency: Scholz & Friends, Berlin, Germany

Innocence In Danger: Where’s The Pedophile?

Art Director: Michael Arguello, Copywriter: Bassam Tariq, Additional credits: Jason Musante

Sexual Predators Can Hide In Your Child’s Smartphone

Advertising Agency: Herezie, Paris, France

Smoking Causes Premature Aging

Advertising Agency: Euro RSCG Australia

You’re Not A Sketch. Say No To Anorexia

Advertising Agency: Revolution Brasil

Neglected Children Are Made To Feel Invisible. Stop Child Abuse Now

“To dramatize the issue of neglect, we placed mannequins dressed as children behind billposters. When the inevitable happened, we revealed a second message.” (Australian Childhood Foundation, JWT Melbourne)