70 Amazing Social Issue Ads That Made Us Think

Every day we are bombarded with advertisements for anything you can imagine—from furniture to pet food to hillbilly dating websites. Most of the time we just give them a quick glance without thinking twice about what they are trying to say. Every now and then you’ll stumble across an ad that basically slaps you in the face and yells “WAKE UP. PAY ATTENTION. THIS IS IMPORTANT.” Those are prime examples of successful advertising—the ones that uninvitedly shove themselves into your brain and refuse to leave, embedding their message so you are sure not to forget. When ads like these are used to spread the word about important and controversial social issues, it creates a winning combination of newfound awareness and the possible start of exactly what they were aiming for: action. We have compiled a list of the top 75 social issue advertisements that made us give a double-take, stop, think and say “OMG”…or, you know, something of that nature.

Animal Abuse

duck
 
enpapuppy
 
seal-clock
 
2867898321_1c244ba6d7_z
 
animal-bag
 
animalcruelty1
 
animalcruelty2
 
dog-soccerball
 
furfreefeel
 
suitcase-blood
 

Driving

10110-934x
 
22102-934x
 
blood-phone1
 
blood-phone2
 
drunkdrivingfist
 
opel
 
seatbelt
 
sleepy-crash
 

Environmental Issues

11155-934x
 
12121-934x
 
31105-934x
 
ocean-sushi2
 
 
 
 
brain-corals
 
dissolvent
 
ice-cream-lg
 
jeep
 
lung-forest
 
Polar-Bear-lg
 
printadj
 
sharkfin
 
Tarzan
 

Abuse

anti-abuse-ad-934x
 
Casamug
 
hands-tied
 
JuvenileProtectiveAssociation-EURORSCG-Usa
 
neglected-child
 
ShutUpWoman
 
woman-google1
 
woman-google2
 
amnesty-international-campaign-ads-127
 
amnesty-international-campaign-ads-128
 
pants-hand
 

Gun Control

72316_10151146554085872_516093712_n-934x
 
guncontrol1
 
guncontrol2
 
wrap-war
 

Homelessness

child-grocerybasket
 
graves-1---print---samusocial-BD
 
homeless-trash
 
SAMU-double-page-FR2
 

Hunger

CHILD-1
 
Lobster-copy
 
icecream
 

Physical & Mental Illness

13109-934x
 
like1
 
anorexia
 
esquizofrenia
 
Hangmans-noose
 
oldwoman
 
ondazul_tv
 
parkinsoncouch
 
talktable
 

Smoking

smoking-grandma
 
fpacigi
 
cigarette-lung
 
CARTAZ-CIGARRO
 

Censorship

21124-934x
 

Child Soldiers

child-soldier
 

Public Health

printadu
 

Intolerance

public-interest-public-awareness-ads-51-1
 
public-interest-public-awareness-ads-51-2
 
Which advertisements struck you?

Let's work together

Is your brand ready to level up?

GET IN TOUCH
Quick links
Get in touch

847.864.8003

Evanston, IL 60201

Stay in the know

Join our "soon-as-we-get-to-it" newsletter, which you can count by the seasons.

©2008 - 2024 Glantz Design, Inc. All rights reserved.