What is a PSA? How a public service announcement differs from an ad

What is a PSA?

A PSA, or public service announcement, is a short film made to inform the public about something or call on people to do something. Turkish law calls it a public service announcement (kamu hizmeti duyurusu); in everyday Turkish it’s usually a kamu spotu, and people also speak of social responsibility or public interest films. Its subject is never a product: speeding, an emergency kit, organ donation, wildfires, waste, online fraud.

PSAs are usually commissioned by ministries, municipalities, public bodies, charities and foundations. Sometimes a brand also commissions a public interest film as part of a social responsibility project; then the film carries the brand’s name and the line between an ad and a PSA gets thinner.

How does a PSA differ from a commercial?

They have something in common too: both have to land one idea in a short time. That’s why the basic rules of a commercial apply to a PSA as well.

PSA topics and formats

For choosing length and channel, see our commercial length guide; the same rules apply to PSAs.

How do you write a good PSA?

1. One behaviour. “Be careful on the road” isn’t a behaviour; “wear a seatbelt in the back seat too” is. The viewer should know what to do when the film ends.
2. A specific audience. New drivers, people with elderly parents, families with school-age children. A film that talks to everyone often reaches no one.
3. The problem with the solution. Showing a crash, a fire or a scam gets attention, but a film that doesn’t tell viewers what to do only unsettles them.
4. A tone that blames no one. Language that talks down to viewers or stigmatises a group stops the message from being heard.
5. One action in the last frame. A number, an address or a single sentence; not a crowd of logos.

A sample PSA script: “By the Door”

The script below was written for this article: a 15-second vertical spot on disaster preparedness for a fictional municipality.

One behaviour: Pack an emergency kit and keep it by the door.

The film opens on fear but doesn’t stay there: the second shot shows the solution, the last shot the one thing to do. The same idea can focus on a family in a 30-second TV version and on one person in the 15-second vertical cut. Details such as what goes in the kit should be checked against the responsible authority’s current list before airing.

Because public projects have long approval chains, keeping the brief to one page matters even more. You’ll find the fields and a template in our creative brief guide.

Where do PSAs air? RTÜK and free public service airtime

A PSA can run in paid ad space, but it can also be broadcast free of charge on TV and radio. Under Article 10 of Türkiye’s Law No. 6112 on radio and television broadcasting, public service announcements that are broadcast free of charge and recommended by RTÜK, the Radio and Television Supreme Council, aren’t counted towards advertising time. In other words, such a spot doesn’t use up the channel’s hourly ad allowance.

For the details of the recommendation process and technical requirements, ask RTÜK and the broadcaster. Online, PSAs usually run as paid ads and are subject to each platform’s ad policies; some platforms may require extra verification for ads about social issues. This article isn’t legal advice.

AI-made PSAs: where they help, where to be careful

Many PSA scenes are hard or dangerous to film in real life: an earthquake, a forest fire, the second before a crash on a motorway at night. A traditional shoot needs stunt performers, special effects and road closures for these. With AI, such scenes can be staged without putting anyone at risk. The same film is also easy to adapt to other languages and regions.

But a PSA runs on trust, and three lines are clear:

• Don’t present it as news footage. An AI-made disaster scene must not be shown as a recording of a real event. Viewers should be able to tell it’s a dramatisation.
• Don’t copy real people. An expert’s, an official’s or a survivor’s face and voice are never generated without permission.
• Keep the label clear. In Türkiye, since 1 August 2026, commercial ads that feature AI-made characters indistinguishable from humans must say so clearly. A PSA isn’t always a commercial ad, but applying the same principle protects trust. Cinela delivers every film labelled as made with AI.

We explain how to spot AI video in a separate article.

PSA process and budget

In public and non-profit projects the approval chain is long and the budget is often tight. That’s why it matters that the price is in writing before production and that every step is approved separately.

At Cinela the process runs like this: on day 1 a brief of about 20 minutes, on day 2 the script and shot list, on days 3–4 a frame for every scene, and on day 5 music, sound, edit and delivery. No step goes ahead without your approval.

The 60- and 90-second prices are estimates from the price calculator on our site. For organisations, we can sign an NDA before the first call if you ask; details for corporate films are on our corporate video production page.

Checklist

1. Does the film ask the viewer for one behaviour?
2. Is the audience described in one sentence?
3. Is there a single action in the last frame? A number, an address or a sentence.
4. Has the information been checked with the responsible authority? Numbers, dates, addresses.
5. Does the tone avoid blaming or stigmatising anyone?
6. Do the dramatised scenes avoid looking like real recordings?
7. Is it stated that the film was made with AI?
8. Are subtitled and vertical versions ready?

If you’re planning a PSA for your organisation or charity, pricing, process and delivery details are on our AI video production page; a one-sentence idea is enough to start.

Sources

The rules were checked in November 2026; see the sources for the current text.

• Türkiye’s Law No. 6112 on the Establishment and Broadcasting Services of Radio and Television, Article 10 (in Turkish)
• Amendment to the Turkish Regulation on Commercial Advertising and Unfair Commercial Practices, Article 6 (Official Gazette, 1 July 2026; in force 1 August 2026, in Turkish)