If you're reading the neIf you're reading the newspaper, watching TV or listening to radio and you come across a public service ad, chances are it is from The Ad Council, one of the main producers of public service announcements, or PSAs, since 1942.

You might not know anything about the council, but you're probably familiar with many of its creations: Smokey Bear, Rosie the Riveter, "The Crying Indian," McGruff the Crime Dog, and Vince and Larry, the Crash Test Dummies.

Advertising can raise product and issue awareness. It can create and reinforce brand identity. It has the power to persuade. That's why business uses it. That's why community-minded organizations also use it.

The Ad Council helps community organizations get their messages across the media spectrum.

The council's Web site, www.adcouncil.org, is home to lists and links for current public service campaigns, as well as a repository of classic campaigns over the years. An online calendar also organizes various campaigns by specific months and days. The site is literally a textbook on how to develop memorable advertising campaigns, whether for community efforts or business - it's worth a look.

Below are a few of the current public service campaigns currently running on national media that you may be familiar with and might prove interesting:

That's Not Cool

www.thatsnotcool.com

Social relationships can be just as tough online as in the real world.

This site is designed to help young people who are dating or hooking up fight textual harassment, privacy invasion, constant messaging, cell phone troubles, rumors and inappropriate photo pressure. Sponsored and co-created by the Family Violence Prevention Fund and the Office on Violence Against Women.

Feed The Pig

www.feedthepig.org

The site is designed to help you think about your spending and saving habits, identify ways to start saving and commit to making changes that will reduce your debt and grow your savings. Sponsored by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the site is targeted toward people between the ages of 25 and 34. But the information and advice is useful to anyone at any age.

Lifelong Literacy

www.loc.gov/literacy

Research shows when young people become good readers in the early grades, they're more likely to become better learners throughout their school years and beyond. This campaign by the Library of Congress, The Geppetto Group, Buena Vista Entertainment and Brigham Young University is designed to inspire people to read books and find a passion for reading in all forms.

Like the other sites listed, this one is useful to anyone, not just young people.

Adopt Us Kids

www.adoptuskids.org

There are 496,000 children in the American foster care system and 130,000 of them are waiting for families to adopt them. This site, sponsored in part by the Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families and the Adoption Exchange Association, is designed to children in the foster care system with foster and adoptive families.

Mentoring

www.bbbs.org

From the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization, this site is designed to encourage adults to become mentors to young people. One study indicated children with mentors developed higher levels of self-confidence, had improved relationships with adults and peers and developed more positive attitudes towards school.

Stroke's No Joke

www.strokeassociation. org

www.powertoendstroke.org/strokesnojoke. html

The American Stroke Association focuses on reducing risk, disability and death from stroke through research, education, fund raising and advocacy. Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States and a major cause of serious, long-term disability. Using stand up comedians, the association's public service site, "Strike's No Joke," aims to get the word out on the symptoms of stroke and immediately calling 911 at the first sign of a stroke.

(Keith Darnay has worked in the online world for more than a decade, the traditional media world for a few decades more and manages the online department and Web site for the University of Mary. His own site, featuring this columns going back to 1995, is at www.darnay.com/iec.)