2024 Video PSA Library
“City of McAllen FY 2023-2024 Proposed Budget”
When it comes to city government, the average citizen wants information that is quick and memorable. This was the objective with the City of McAllen FY 2023-2024 proposed budget, to make the video exciting to watch, while still providing factual information and interesting visuals.
The City of McAllen prides itself on being transparent with the community. In this Public Service Announcement video, residents are able to see highlights of the proposed Fiscal Year 2023-2024 $655 million budget.
The goal of this video is to give taxpayers a visual of what their money is doing to help revitalize and improve the City of McAllen roads, parks, construction projects, employee pay, and quality of life for McAllen citizens. It also informs the community when they can attend public hearings to comment on the proposed budget.
“Grinch on Patrol”
Each year, the McAllen Police Department joins with other local city, county and state law enforcement agencies to promote their “No Refusal-DWI Campaign.” Assisted by Texas Department of Public Safety state grant funding, police departments in Hidalgo County including the McAllen Police Department, used the additional money for overtime patrolling from October 31 (Halloween) to December 31 (New Year’s Eve), to prevent, catch and stop DWI arrests and accidents, during the holiday. Motorists who are stopped for suspected DWI could not refuse to provide a breath sample. If they did, a judge would compel a blood sample to be drawn and they would be arrested until they could be arraigned.
McAllen Police Chief Victor Rodriguez met with the Office of Communications team, wanting to create a special public service announcement for this initiative, with a Grinch on Patrol message.
“McAllen Mayor Javier Villalobos Cautions against DWI, Domestic Violence”
The holiday season can be a time where family and friends gather enjoying company, food, and drinks. Although alcohol can be a way to celebrate, if used irresponsibly it can also be a danger to others, especially on the road. With holidays being joyful, it can also bring out harsh emotions causing people to act in a manner that may be violent.
The City of McAllen Office of Communications department partnered with McAllen Mayor Javier Villalobos to make a Public Service Announcement video to inform residents that domestic abuse in McAllen will not be tolerated and police will be utilized to stop those who are drinking and driving.
“Think Before You Gift”
Holidays, especially Christmas, are popular times to give dogs and cats as gifts. While well-meaning, what often happens is that the recipient is overwhelmed with the responsibility of caring for a pet and then the dog or cat may either be abused, abandoned or end up at the Palm Valley Animal Society (PVAS) stray shelter, exacerbating an already crowded facility with dogs and cats needing a home.
The City of McAllen Health & Code Enforcement Department (MHCE), who oversees Animal Care Services, is charged with picking up abandoned dogs and cats in the community. Wanting to avoid more strays on the streets of McAllen, the MHCE worked with the City of McAllen Office of Communications to produce a public service announcement, in English and Spanish, to avoid more pets becoming unwanted and unloved.
"LioLi - Lock It or Lose It” Campaign
Since the City of Santa Clarita’s incorporation in 1987, the City has made the safety of its residents a top priority through education and enforcement. In partnership with the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Department, this collaboration has led to several effective outreach initiatives, including Coffee with a Cop and public awareness campaigns like the 9PM Routine, The Stolen Collection and GTA: Guard That Auto. As a result, these collective applications led to a 42 percent decrease in robbery over the past 5 years.
In 2022, Los Angeles County, and by extension, Santa Clarita, saw an unanticipated uptick—40 percent to be exact—in unlocked vehicle thefts. In response, the City was once again recruited by the Sheriff’s Department to help educate residents and prevent further cases of these types of crimes. A meeting was set up between the Sheriff’s and the City’s Communications team to gather information and to discuss possible strategies and messaging ideas. Much to the Communications team’s surprise, even the most basic of efforts by the public—including simply locking your car doors—went unheeded and needed to be addressed.
After meeting with the Sheriff’s and several internal brainstorming sessions, the Communications team decided that a new public safety campaign was in order. This new campaign needed to grab the attention of residents in a fresh and very noticeable way while also delivering the message in a clear and concise manner. Taking inspiration from the many pharmaceutical commercials that populate ad buys during most sporting events, LioLi - LockItorLoseIt, was born. LioLi offers residents the chance to “unleash an amazing life, theft-free” with easy solutions to help combat the problem of unlocked vehicle thefts. The campaign took a humorous approach, featured a diverse cast of characters and sought to inform residents that they could prevent cases of theft, while promising a litany of amazing benefits, including:
• A dramatic decrease in theft when you lock your doors, hide your valuables and park in well-lit areas.
•The ability to stop thefts cold with the use of LioLi’s special vandal inhibitors, called locks.
• Effective theft relief, one lock at a time.
• A free trial they could use simply by visiting their vehicles and locking it up.
• Life is better when you LockItorLoseIt.
”The Real Cops of Southlake”
There’s so many safety topics to cover in a year, and the Southlake DPS social pages can’t make a video about every single one of those. In an effort to cover a myriad of those important topics, we created “The Real Cops of Southlake,” a catch-all spin off of “The Real Housewives of (Insert City).”
Traffic enforcement awareness, proper nighttime home lighting, protecting your catalytic convertors…it’s all here in a watchable, entertaining, and most importantly, humorous PSA.
A Tiny Forest Comes to Life at McAllen ISD School
A tiny forest is taking over McAllen ISD’s Sam Houston Elementary School. McAllen’s World Birding Center, Quinta Mazatlán, is on a mission to educate and promote native vegetation within the city. To enhance this initiative, the City of McAllen partnered with McAllen ISD to create a Tiny Forest with more than 2,000 plants on school grounds.
This initiative provides outdoor learning opportunities for current and future students. The idea is to educate students about the importance of caring for the environment and the benefits of native vegetation through a hands on experience.
An Apple a Day
One of our Board of County Commissioners’ budget priorities is to improve access to physical and behavioral healthcare for County residents of all ages and promote healthy behaviors. The Department of Social Services/Services for Adults division works to ensure low-income senior citizens have access to healthy meals and fresh produce, and much work goes into promoting this work by County staff. The Senior Citizens Nutrition Program (SCNP) provides nutrition support and socialization opportunities to individuals 60 years and older residing in Mecklenburg County. The program offers nutrition support services, free of cost, though congregate meal sites, home delivery, and our mobile market program. The program is supported by federal, state, and County funding, plus voluntary contributions from participants.
Anuncio de servicio público #1 sobre prevención de incendios de McAllen FD: “Seguridad en la cocina”
The City of McAllen Office of Communications produced a series of public service announcements – three in English and three in Spanish - for the McAllen Fire Department for Fire Prevention Month in October. The McAllen Fire Department wanted to inform the community about cooking safety, both in the kitchen and in the backyard.
The Office of Communications wanted to send a strong message that children and parents could relate to. The PSAs had to incorporate the message, “Pay Attention to Fire Prevention,” the 2023 National Fire Prevention theme, and in Spanish, “Presta atención a la prevención de incendios.” The department knew that using talking heads, whether they be fire department personnel or even elected officials, would make the message fall flat. The team decided to use the ever popular and easily recognizable local high school mascots, along with Sparky, the nationally famous fire prevention mascot, to deliver this powerful message in a very simple way.
Anuncio de servicio público #2 sobre prevención de incendios de McAllen FD: “Precaución con el vapor”
The City of McAllen Office of Communications produced a series of public service announcements – three in English and three in Spanish - for the McAllen Fire Department for Fire Prevention Month in October. The McAllen Fire Department wanted to inform the community about cooking safety, both in the kitchen and in the backyard.
The Office of Communications wanted to send a strong message that children and parents could relate to. The PSAs had to incorporate the message, “Pay Attention to Fire Prevention,” the 2023 National Fire Prevention theme, and in Spanish, “Presta atención a la prevención de incendios.” The department knew that using talking heads, whether they be fire department personnel or even elected officials, would make the message fall flat. The team decided to use the ever popular and easily recognizable local high school mascots, along with Sparky, the nationally famous fire prevention mascot, to deliver this powerful message in a very simple way.
Anuncio de servicio público #3 sobre prevención de incendios de McAllen FD: “Peligro de barbacoa”
The City of McAllen Office of Communications produced a series of public service announcements – three in English and three in Spanish - for the McAllen Fire Department for Fire Prevention Month in October. The McAllen Fire Department wanted to inform the community about cooking safety, both in the kitchen and in the backyard.
The Office of Communications wanted to send a strong message that children and parents could relate to. The PSAs had to incorporate the message, “Pay Attention to Fire Prevention,” the 2023 National Fire Prevention theme, and in Spanish, “Presta atención a la prevención de incendios.” The department knew that using talking heads, whether they be fire department personnel or even elected officials, would make the message fall flat. The team decided to use the ever popular and easily recognizable local high school mascots, along with Sparky, the nationally famous fire prevention mascot, to deliver this powerful message in a very simple way.
Carts with Carter
In local government, you can change a lot of things. But, as wisdom goes, there’s one thing you don’t touch: trash service. So, what happens when industry trends require you to do just that and make major changes to how and when your residents receive their trash service? You communicate like you’ve never communicated before with one goal in mind: We can’t make them like it, but we can make sure they know about it. “Carts with Carter” was a video PSA campaign that was part of a larger education campaign surrounding the City’s transition to once-per-week trash cart service from twice-per-week manual bagged collection. By using a little bit of light-hearted humor, this PSA series sought to educate residents on several major parts of the trash cart transition.
The City of Arlington’s residents enjoyed twice-per-week manual trash collection service for as long as they could remember. However, about two years ago, the City was met with the reality that due to its size, only two trash haulers could efficiently service the community, and neither one was offering manual trash collection any longer. Instead, only automated trash cart service was going to be offered, and Arlington would need to switch its method. Additionally, due to rising costs, the City would need to switch to once-per week service to keep collection fees reasonable for its residents.
So, as part of an eight-month education campaign prior to the trash cart transition, Arlington’s Office of Communication created a five-part PSA sub-campaign in English and Spanish called “Carts with Carter.”
Castle Rock Police Department’s Lock It Up campaign
In 2022, the Castle Rock Police Department took 139 reports of thefts from motor vehicles. A deep dive of these incidents found that of the more than 200 cars that were broken into, more than half were left unlocked or with items in an open truck bed or available toolbox. The following spring, the Castle Rock Town Manager’s Office challenged the Communications team to partner with the Castle Rock Police Department to find a creative way to bring awareness to the community that many times simply locking vehicles and removing valuable from sight can prevent these crimes of opportunity. This sparked the Town of Castle Rock and CRPD to launch the “Lock It Up” public safety campaign on June 8, 2023.
Filmed at locations throughout Town, a dozen videos were created with the “Lock It Up” tagline. The majority of these videos featured a thief named Robin Steal who broke into cars to steal wallets, purses, sporting equipment and other valuables. Many of the scenarios mirrored real-life instances of vehicle break-ins reported to CRPD that included cars that were left unlocked and / or with valuables in plain view. Castle Rock Police Department officers were also featured, offering reminders and tips for securing valuables.
CitySend It! Music Video
When the City of Longview set out to promote an update to its customer service application CitySend, no idea was off the table.
The team worked through a variety of options until landing on something so crazy it just might work, a late-80’s, early-90’s themed rap track promoting the service and urging residents to “CitySend It!”
The video was released on Sept. 1, 2023, and was a hit. “CitySend It!” connected with residents, led to new application downloads and generated positive community buzz about the application that has lasted nearly 8 months since its launch.
Cobb County - State Fair is Here
Traffic is well known to cause major headaches for many drivers, especially when you’re on your way to having fun at the state’s largest festival, The North Georgia Fair. The 11-day festival is the largest annual event in Cobb County and features a variety of attractions, including petting barns, free concerts, live shows, carnival games, competitions, artwork, and an assortment of rollercoasters and fair rides. Due to the high turnout, the county advises fairgoers to use County Services Parkway to get to the fairgrounds, rather than Callaway Road. A traffic nightmare could be brewing with daily commuters and fairground attendees using the same roads during peak rush hour.
We were presented with the challenge of informing neighbors and fun seekers about the traffic situation and the best route for skipping the worst of it.
College Station Christmas Parade
The production of an informational video to promote the inaugural College Station Christmas Parade serves multiple purposes and goals, aiming to engage residents, foster community unity, and ensure the success of this newly established holiday tradition. At its core, the video endeavors to communicate essential details about the parade, including the route, parking arrangements, and associated festivities, while also revitalizing the holiday spirit within the community.
Commute Smarter, Not Harder: Be a Bus Expert
Public transportation is better for the environment, reduces traffic and promotes equitable development and walkable communities. This video was created to not only continue to promote riders to use public transit, but also to help riders create a Commute Smart plan. Commute Smart Raleigh offers
easy solutions to alleviate traffic congestion and employee stress by moving more people in fewer vehicles. Commute Smart consultants provide advice and assistance on how to increase the use of various transportation options in Raleigh.
Fire Prevention PSA “McAllen Fire Department PSA #1: Kitchen Safety”
The City of McAllen Office of Communications produced a series of public service announcements – three in English and three in Spanish - for the McAllen Fire Department for Fire Prevention Month in October. The McAllen Fire Department wanted to inform the community about cooking safety, both in the kitchen and in the backyard.
The Office of Communications wanted to send a strong message that children and parents could relate to. The PSAs had to incorporate the message, “Pay Attention to Fire Prevention,” the 2023 National Fire Prevention theme, and in Spanish, “Presta atención a la prevención de incendios.” The department knew that using talking heads, whether they be fire department personnel or even elected officials, would make the message fall flat. The team decided to use the ever popular and easily recognizable local high school mascots, along with Sparky, the nationally famous fire prevention mascot, to deliver this powerful message in a very simple way.
Fire Prevention PSA “McAllen Fire Department PSA #2: Steam Caution”
The City of McAllen Office of Communications produced a series of public service announcements – three in English and three in Spanish - for the McAllen Fire Department for Fire Prevention Month in October. The McAllen Fire Department wanted to inform the community about cooking safety, both in the kitchen and in the backyard.
The Office of Communications wanted to send a strong message that children and parents could relate to. The PSAs had to incorporate the message, “Pay Attention to Fire Prevention,” the 2023 National Fire Prevention theme, and in Spanish, “Presta atención a la prevención de incendios.” The department knew that using talking heads, whether they be fire department personnel or even elected officials, would make the message fall flat. The team decided to use the ever popular and easily recognizable local high school mascots, along with Sparky, the nationally famous fire prevention mascot, to deliver this powerful message in a very simple way.
Fire Prevention PSA “McAllen Fire Department PSA #3: Bar-Be-Que Danger”
The City of McAllen Office of Communications produced a series of public service announcements – three in English and three in Spanish - for the McAllen Fire Department for Fire Prevention Month in October. The McAllen Fire Department wanted to inform the community about cooking safety, both in the kitchen and in the backyard.
The Office of Communications wanted to send a strong message that children and parents could relate to. The PSAs had to incorporate the message, “Pay Attention to Fire Prevention,” the 2023 National Fire Prevention theme, and in Spanish, “Presta atención a la prevención de incendios.” The department knew that using talking heads, whether they be fire department personnel or even elected officials, would make the message fall flat. The team decided to use the ever popular and easily recognizable local high school mascots, along with Sparky, the nationally famous fire prevention mascot, to deliver this powerful message in a very simple way.
From Awareness to Action: CMSD’s SB1383 PSA Video Series
Costa Mesa Sanitary District (CMSD) is an independent special district serving more than 118,000 customers in Costa Mesa, portions of Newport Beach and unincorporated Orange County. As a sanitary district, CMSD is responsible for residential solid waste collection and operation of a wastewater collection system.
In 2015, CMSD became the first public agency in Southern California to implement a residential curbside organics recycling program that converts green waste and food scraps into Renewable Natural Gas (RNG). The program’s success depends upon customers’ ongoing participation, necessitating extensive education and outreach. Senate Bill (SB) 1383 — which took effect January 1, 2022 — further escalated the need for strategic communications as it introduced organic recycling requirements for residents and businesses across California.
To emphasize the importance of organics recycling and empower customers through helpful resources, CMSD partnered with Tripepi Smith in 2023 to create a series of public service announcement (PSA) videos.
Glassford Hill Road (Full House Version)
A planned six month road construction project was bound to cause frustration and aggrivation throughout the community. To bring some levity to the situation, while also providing information about the project and notice of detours/roadwork, we wanted to create an informative and entertaining PSA.
Greenways, Blueways and Bikeways Interactive Map PSA
Murfreesboro is known for its great parks and recreation facilities. We continually strive to improve the citizen’s opportunities for outdoor activities. Last year the city decided to create a master plan to improve the areas people use for walking/running, biking and kayaking. Part of this process was to gain public input on what people would like to see added and what areas need to be improved. To help with this, the city utilized an interactive map feature on our website that allowed citizens to add new outdoor areas or report problem with existing outdoor spaces.
Hickory Creek Animal Shelter Highlight
The City of Corinth began partnering with the Hickory Creek Animal Shelter (HCAS) for all animal services in October 2022. With HCAS servicing two additional cities outside of their own, our Communications Staff saw the importance of helping boost awareness of smaller animal shelters.
McAllen Mayor Villalobos Encourages Residents to Sign Up for the 2024 ITT Community Challenge
The City of McAllen has won the It’s Time Texas Community for the past six straight years and wanted to go for the seventh. The challenge pits like sized cities against each other in a healthy competition to see which residents are the healthiest. Every year, the City of McAllen tries innovative ways to promote and improve the community’s participation and civic pride in the community fitness challenge. The City of McAllen’s Office of Communications produced a video to promote the It’s Time Texas Community Challenge to earn points for the competition with the video but, also to encourage community partners to join in the fun and garner more points.
Only Rain Down the Drain
Introducing the inaugural installment of the ”Only Rain Down the Drain” series, Part 1 presents a fun and engaging PSA video aimed at raising awareness about the importance of proper stormwater management. In this entertaining narrative, we follow the misadventures of a well-meaning resident named Ray, who attempts to dispose of lawn debris by pushing it down a storm drain.
Enter the New World Celts, guardians of Dunedin’s heritage and staunch advocates for environmental responsibility. Infusing a touch of Scottish flair into the storyline, they intervene to prevent Ray’s misguided actions, adding a delightful twist that resonates with Dunedin’s rich cultural history.
Beyond the entertainment value, the video delivers a crucial message: leaves, and other yard debris blown or raked onto the street pose significant threats to our stormwater system and local waterways. Such actions not only contribute to pollution but also increase the risk of flooding during storms.
To address this issue, Dunedin Solid Waste offers a practical solution. Through manual collection of yard waste once per week, on regular collection days for most residential curbside customers, the City ensures proper disposal and prevents harmful debris from entering our storm drains.
With this creative collaboration between residents, community groups like the New World Celts, and local authorities, we can all play a part in preserving Dunedin’s natural beauty and safeguarding our precious water resources for generations to come. Together, let’s remember: Only Rain Down the Drain.
Palm Valley Animal Society Presents First-Ever Visionary Award to the City of McAllen
The City of McAllen was awarded the first-ever Visionary Award by its partner, Palm Valley Animal Society, the regional dog and cat animal shelter that serves McAllen, neighboring cities and Hidalgo County. The City of McAllen had a drastic philosophical change in its approach to animal services, going from animal control under the McAllen Police Department to Animal Care under the McAllen Environmental Health & Code Enforcement Department. Other City of McAllen initiatives, including puppy and kitty internships, free microchip clinics and stressing responsible pet ownership, led PVAS to create and recognize McAllen with this award. They wanted to create a video, to highlight this award, to be aired at their annual fundraising gala.
In order to avoid paying precious dollars that could be used for animal care, the City of McAllen Office of Communications created the video at no cost.
Piensa antes de regalar
Holidays, especially Christmas, are popular times to give dogs and cats as gifts. While well-meaning, what often happens is that the recipient is overwhelmed with the responsibility of caring for a pet and then the dog or cat may either be abused, abandoned or end up at the Palm Valley Animal Society (PVAS) stray shelter, exacerbating an already crowded facility with dogs and cats needing a home.
The City of McAllen Health & Code Enforcement Department (MHCE), who oversees Animal Care Services, is charged with picking up abandoned dogs and cats in the community. Wanting to avoid more strays on the streets of McAllen, the MHCE worked with the City of McAllen Office of Communications to produce a public service announcement, in English and Spanish, to avoid more pets becoming unwanted and unloved.
Ranked Choice Voting
Several years ago, the City of Las Cruces opted in to Ranked Choice Voting. There is still a lot of misunderstanding about what Ranked Choice is and how it is beneficial for voters. We wanted a video to inform and educate. The mayoral race was going to be a highly contested seat, as we had seven candidates announce their campaign for mayor.
Red, White, & BOOM! Dad Jokes
Every year, the city of McKinney hosts a large Red, White, and BOOM! event to celebrate the Fourth of July. The traditional site for this past year was unavailable due to the entire sports complex undergoing major construction updates.
The Communications team was tasked with conveying the message regarding the significant relocation of the event. In crafting the communications plan, we aimed to deliver this important message in an engaging and lighthearted manner. Drawing inspiration from the popular Logan Lisle Dock Tok videos, known for their humorous dad jokes on Instagram, we developed a strategy to incorporate dad-like characters portrayed by our staff, thereby infusing a sense of familiarity and approachability into the messaging plan.
Slow Down Maricopa - A SpeedOMeter Office Parody
The Maricopa Police Department (MPD) recognized a critical opportunity to enhance community safety and awareness through messaging about speed radar trailers. With the increasing concerns regarding speeding and road safety within the city, MPD identified the need to educate residents about the purpose and effectiveness of speed radar trailers in promoting responsible driving behavior. By disseminating targeted messaging, MPD aimed to raise awareness about the presence and significance of these trailers in monitoring and regulating vehicle speeds, ultimately working towards a culture of compliance and accountability among motorists.
Small Business Utility Assistance Program
City of Las Cruces Utilities has had a residential assistance fund for years, but during COVID, we realized that some small businesses also faced hardships and a utility bill could make or break their ability to stay in business. Las Cruces Utilities implemented a small business assistance fund to help address this problem and we needed to promote it.
Tolleson Blood Drive PSA Videos
According to the American Red Cross Association, donations from people in the Latino community are especially important in the treatment of trauma patients and others needing emergency blood transfusions because more than half of all Hispanics/Latinos in the U.S. have type O blood. Type O blood is most often in critical supply as it is most often needed by hospitals.
Tree Topping Hurts
In Flower Mound, we pride ourselves on maintaining a small-town atmosphere, which includes protecting and preserving the many species of trees found in our borders. The Flower Mound Environmental Services team approached Communications for a video raising awareness about the downsides of tree topping, which is the indiscriminate removal of living and dead branches and limbs from the top and sides of a tree’s canopy. The practice can be detrimental to the long-term health of the trees and can even result in the tree’s death. Instead of creating a long video about the best ways to care for your trees and the adverse effects of tree topping, we opted for a fun short to deliver the message that tree topping is bad and point viewers to more information for healthy alternatives.
This video is aimed at educating residents about why tree topping, or indiscriminately removing living and dead limbs from a tree’s canopy, is not a good practice.
We’re Bringing Helmets Back
A city councilmember proposed a groundbreaking ordinance mandating the use of helmets for all individuals on city trails or sidewalks. However, the city’s police department highlighted significant challenges in enforcing such a regulation, particularly considering its novelty in the surrounding area. In response, the police department and city management suggested exploring alternative approaches, such as leveraging the expertise of the marketing and communications team to craft a compelling public service announcement (PSA). This strategy aims to encourage voluntary compliance with the helmet requirement, potentially mitigating the need for strict enforcement measures.