artists for public service announcements

Vital Stats

Brooklyn, NY

  • People Doing It1

The Problem

Despite decades of attempts to persuade Americans to eat their vegetables, very few of us are getting the advised share. A 2009 Study using data from National Health and Nutrition Examination Study found that only 0.9% of adolescents, 2.2% of adult men, and 3.5% of adult women consumed the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables (between 4-9 servings, depending on calorie consumption). Like petulant children that feed the dog our peas and carrots when no one’s looking, Americans just won’t eat their vegetables. The new USDA guidelines revealed at the end of January were in agreement on this point as well: in a nutshell, they advised Americans to eat less, cut the salt, and consume more fruits and vegetables. In an interview in a New York Times article about the tribulations of getting Americans to eat their vegetables, Marcia Mogelonsy, a senior analyst for a global marketing firm says, “Eating vegetables is a lot less fun than eating flavor-blasted Doritos.” An accurate statement indeed. Where’s the fun in eating a head of Broccoli? Or so Americans think; this is the perception I'm trying to change.

Plan of Action

I propose an intervention that shows how eating vegetables can be as mind-blowingly fun as licking that last bit of neon orange gunk off your fingers after finishing a bag of Doritos, and I plan on convincing American using the help of artists. I want to launch a public service announcement advertising campaign that re-positions the vegetable as the ham of the party. Through billboards, posters, and subway advertisements, I want to spread the gospel: fruits and vegetables are cool, fun, and tasty. I don’t plan on doing this entirely on my own. While I have already planned the first few billboards, I want to enlist fellow artists to contribute a poster or billboard to encourage healthy eating and combat one of the leading public health issues of our era: obesity. In time, an entire campaign of artist-sourced images will spread like wildfire through Brooklyn and Manhattan. Artists for Service Announcements (ASA) will provide a domain for artists to engage in the community and assist in disseminating healthy messages. While ASA’s campaigns will begin here, I envision a future where ASA chooses a focus area for the year, and encourages artists to submit public service announcements under this focus area. It will be a way of using creative energy for a productive end; a venue for artists to give back to the community. As an artist myself, I have the resources necessary to both personally make the billboards and get fellow artists to contribute as well. I have experience working in the community, and as someone who likes to both eat vegetables and have fun, I have the necessary background to re-brand that neglected slab of the USDA food pyramid. As far as mounting the campaign; I have already spoken to Lamar advertising. The cost of printing and installing a billboard is close to 3,000$. They agreed to waive the rental fee (ordinarily 7,000) if the billboard is empty. I have spoken to Fractured Atlas, an organization under which I can function as a nonprofit, if necessary to fore-go the rental fee. I plan on raising the remaining funds necessary.
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Physical and Mental Health
Healthy Living

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