Clean Air Public Service Announcement Targeting Chinese Audiences —The Case of Hairy Nose

Abstract

This paper studies an empirical case of clean air public service announcement (PSA) video—Hairy Nose, which is a typical but special PSA targeting Chinese audiences, representing and criticizing current heavy air pollution in China. The aim of this research is to explore how this PSA appeals to target audiences and how Chinese audiences perceive this PSA. Through detailed media content analysis of Hairy Nose and in-depth semi-structured interviews with Chinese audiences, the objectives could be achieved. Hairy Nose provides a notable example of the use of multiple appeal strategies in one video. Four most obvious and significant appeal strategies were identified—humor appeal strategy, fear appeal strategy, contrast appeal strategy and identity appeal strategy. Hairy Nose elicited many positive emotions and favorable responses among Chinese audiences. Meanwhile, they also criticized this PSA from many perspectives.