Goodwill Communications

The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons retained Goodwill Communications to distribute and evaluate several national multi-media PSA campaigns to encourage Americans to adopt a more active lifestyle.

It is vitally important that our children and teens understand the world around them, because if they do not, they will not compete in a future that is largely without borders, and the need to understand many other cultures. Our work with National Geographic shows that many of our youth do not have a basic understand of geography and why it matters. The campaign we launched on their behalf addressed this important issue.

Sometimes when distributing a PSA campaign, the stars are all in alignment. The quality of the creative production is excellent…the PSA was produced in various lengths…it has a local angle….it involves both young people, as well as sports mentors, and it was sponsored by a very respected national human services organization. When you get a PSA with these qualities, then you know it is going to be a hit with the media.

Goodwill Communications has distributed dozens of PSA campaigns to support recruiting, mostly for our armed forces. However, the best evidence we have to demonstrate how PSAs can help recruit volunteers, is to review our six years of working with the Peace Corps.

Underage drinking continues to be a national public health issue in the United States, especially among adolescents. Alcohol is the most widely used substance among America’s youth, contributing to the three leading causes of death among 12- to 20-year-olds: unintentional injury, homicide and suicide. Further, underage drinking has severe consequences, many of which parents may not be fully aware, such as injury or death from accidents; unintended, unwanted, and unprotected sexual activity; academic problems; and drug use.

To gain a better understanding of public perceptions about the social security issue, SSA launched a consumer research project conducted by the Gallup Corporation, titled: “Public Understanding Measurement System” (PUMS). The key findings of the survey are shown in the graphic. On a less positive note, the PUMS data indicates a reduced level of knowledge among several demographic groups, including those in the 30-49 age bracket, African-Americans and Asian-Americans. From the research, two things became clear:

In our ten years of working with the U.S. Navy Recruiting Command, one of the more controversial recommendations we made was to re-position its PSA program, focusing less on a strong recruiting message and emphasizing its community service work.

Harmony was a national public service campaign with a call-to-action to improve the quality of the environment, mostly through sustainable soil cultivation and preservation practices based largely by native American Indians.

The prevalence of obesity among our nation’s youth has more than doubled in the past 20 years, with close to five million youths aged 6 to 17 seriously overweight or obese.

Every hour someone is newly diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), a chronic, unpredictable disease of the central nervous system.MS destroys connection, disrupts signals, divides minds from bodies, pulls us from our lives and away from each other.Therefore, it is only fitting that connection would be its greatest enemy.