Chicago-based advertising agency Schafer Condon Carter teamed up with the Ad Council to launch a campaign for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to kick off National Preparedness Month, including the 60-second PSA “Don’t Wait.”
The spot shows scenes from various disasters, accompanied by the question, “When is the best time to talk to your family about how to get in touch in a disaster?” As the disaster scenes continue to play out, text asking “Now?” keeps cropping up, which may be just a bit overkill, until the spot ends with a family calmly talking on their deck with the message “Don’t Wait. Communicate.” It’s a clear and direct way to communicate the preparedness message, ending by directing viewers to Ready.gov/communicate to learn how to properly prepare for an emergency. The campaign also includes radio, outdoor, print and digital PSAs in support of the broadcast effort.
“Through the Ready campaign, we’ve made a lot of progress educating and empowering Americans to prepare for all types of emergencies but there are still so many families that don’t have a plan,” said Ad Council president and CEO Lisa Sherman. “Having these conversations is really important and can have a big impact on our families’ safety in the event of a disaster.”