PSA advertisements concerning poverty have often been too cliché. A homeless person in a soup kitchen or people in raggy clothes are often shown with sorrowful expressions, begging the viewer for aid because of their “helplessness.” However, these ads miss the big picture, and frankly, they’re stuck in the Great Depression. Poverty today is not your grandparents’ poverty, but rather a more complex and complicated one. Because of the 2008 recession, we are seeing more seemingly “well-off” people fall into impoverishment. Many of those with the expensive sneakers, cars, and fancy suit and tie fell prey as credit card debts increased. College graduates suddenly found it difficult to find jobs, and unemployment numbers soared.

Below, we have created sample PSA advertisements that we believe accurately reflect modern day poverty. Utilizing government statistics and eye catching headlines and images, we hope to draw the viewer in, encouraging he or she to learn more about poverty and possibly take action to aid in mitigating it. Poverty is evolving, and thus, so should our efforts to combat it, so we present to you “poverty for a new generation.”

Billboard/Web Banner

poverty-women

ad**

 

Social Media

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iphone

*All images above are self-created: Creator Carolyn Balcom