Public Service Announcements
Our Public Service Announcements (PSAs) reach millions of parents nationwide informing them about the rating system and why it is important that they use it when choosing games for their families. Through the generous support of our media partners, we have been able to reach millions of parents through a variety of media outlets, including TV, radio, print, outdoor, and the Internet.
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OK to Play? Campaign
In 2003, ESRB developed and launched a national public service announcement ad campaign spanning print, online, radio and TV. The campaign, featuring the slogan "OK To Play?", explains the rating system and urges parents and others to use both components of the rating system (rating symbols and content descriptors) in order to make informed computer and video game purchase decisions.
Visit our Media Library to view the ads.
National Television and Radio PSAs
U.S. Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Joseph Lieberman joined the
ESRB in late 2006 to launch a series of television and radio PSAs featuring
Best Buy president Brian Dunn and former GameStop president Steve Morgan. The
ads strongly encourage parents to be involved in choosing the games
they buy for their children, and end with a message from each company
president affirming their respective company’s commitment not
to sell M-rated games to those under 17 without a parent’s permission.
The campaign, which has generated over a half a billion consumer impressions to date, was distributed to over 800 cable and broadcast stations
nationwide just in time for the Holiday shopping season, when more
than half of all video games are sold each year, and continues to air on radio, TV and in-store outlets today.
Visit our Media Library to view the ads.
Statewide PSAs
ESRB works with various government agencies and officials to educate the public, particularly parents, about the ratings. Campaigns have been developed with elected officials in several states, including Washington Governor Chris Gregoire, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff and Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker, to name a few. All of these leaders participated in television and radio PSAs in their respective states encouraging parents to check the ratings when buying games for their families. Other campaigns in states like Delaware and Indiana have included components like billboards, mall kiosk ads and brochures distributed through video game retailers. Press events and announcements at the launch of these campaigns have generated significant media attention, and the campaigns themselves have reached tens of millions of citizens in their respective states.
Visit our Media Library to view the ads.
In-Store PSAs
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Reaching consumers about the ratings at the point of sale is critical, and though most retailers display signage that explains the rating system and encourages consumers to use it, there is always more that can be done. In late 2007, the ESRB and Walmart joined to develop a series of PSAs that will continue running nationwide on their in-store TV network throughout the year, generating upwards of 250 million impressions. Many other retailers, such as Best Buy and Blockbuster, have also supported ratings education efforts by running ESRB PSAs on their in-store networks.
Visit our Media Library to view the ads.
Penny Arcade PSAs Targeting Game Enthusiasts
ESRB developed a PSA campaign specifically for video gamers in collaboration with the creative team behind the popular Web comic, Penny Arcade. The campaign is comprised of five print ads and numerous online banner ads that include original characters representing the ages of various rating categories, and was first rolled out sequentially during the Summer and Fall of 2006. The campaign has been well received and broadly picked up in game enthusiast publications and websites.
Visit our Media Library to view the ads.
Media Partners
The ESRB public service campaign has received broad support from TV, radio, print and online media outlets. Please visit our Media Partners page to view a list of many of the publications, stations and websites that have supported ESRB PSA campaigns.
To contact the ESRB about running its public service campaign, please click here.
