Saturday, December 19, 2009

PSA Memories

Gov. Bill Richardson's proposal of a ban on politicians making state-paid public service announcements and Lt. Gov. Diane Denish's subsequent decision to get the Health Department to stop her PSA on flu prevention reminded me of a column I wrote three years ago.

That piece was sparked by a parent of a girl who had appeared in a campaign ad for Land Commissioner Pat Lyons. The girl's elementary school apologized saying they thought the TV spot was going to be a PSA.

My take:

Any time an elected official gets a film crew together the real purpose is political — whether it’s for a “public service” announcement or an actual campaign commercial. Lets not kid ourselves.

And I'll stand by my observation in that column that besides office holders using PSAs to get their names and faces out there, I wish politicos would take Pink Floyd's advice and "leave those kids alone."

... while many wring their hands over “negative” ads, it’s some of the “positive” ads that give me the willies.

I know this appeal probably is useless, but I wish the politicians would leave the kids out of it. Surely there’s some brave candidates out there who would pledge to refrain from using youngsters as political props.

Do it for the children.