To answer what ‘house hippos’ are, they are fictional creatures that supposedly dwell in many Canadian and Eastern United States homes, preferring to hide in the nooks and crannies of things such as slippers and only coming out at night. In the public service announcement that it featured them in, in addition to being made-up creatures, the PSA serves as a message to spread awareness about media literacy skills, and to question the things seen on TV and in the media as either true or false. The PSA was created by the ‘Concerned Children Advertisers,’ (or, the aptly renamed to ‘Companies Committed to Kids’ company before they dissolved in 2017). 

The Canadian-based company made other PSAs in the year that they were still active, such as PSAs on the dangers of drug usage, bullying, and other important topics (that were especially relevant to children). With this rhetorical analysis being focused on specifically the 'House Hippos' PSA, the main purpose of the PSA (along with being the main topic of focus of the analysis) is on the subject matter of 'media literacy,' which is having the ability to thoughtfully analyze media (either online or on TV). In this blog, this rhetorical analysis of the 'House Hippos' PSA covers the aspects of who created the PSA, why it was created in the first place, and what circumstances led to the conception and creation of the all fantastical creatures of 'house hippos.'

·         The creators behind the ‘House Hippos’ PSA were a company called ‘Concerned Children’s Advertisers,’(which was established back in 1990) or ‘Companies Committed to Kids’ before the company went defunct in 2017 (Chretien, Advertising concerns: a retrospective look at Canadian public service announcements).

 The aim of the company, according to an interview published by Emerald Publishing Limited under the magazine Young Consumers, the then President and COO of the company, Cathy Loblaw states the aim of the company: “‘In 1990 a number of companies came together that were involved in advertising or marketing products or services to children and decided if they wanted to be perceived as being responsible and caring in their interactions with children they should do something about it. CCA is unique as it is the first such organisation which is entirely child-focused and was started with a single-minded aim of contributing to the health and well-being of Canadian children. There were twenty companies involved initially – these are all still member companies with four more as well.’ These include food, media and toy companies…” (Clarke and Gardener).

 From the same interview, other areas of focus that the company focused on: 1) The Broadcast Code for Advertising to Children (Television), 2) Canadian Code of Advertising Standards (All media), 3) Media Literacy Education, and 4) Social Messaging. From their overall cause, the ‘Concerned Children’s Advertisers’ company was dedicated to the well-being of children, and to teaching children the importance of media literacy, as well as other important things that children should be aware of.

·         The purpose of the PSA was to bring awareness to ‘media literacy’ and how children need to develop skills in media literacy to use them in the media that they view on TV. According to Media Literacy now, the company defines media literacy as being able to “Decode media messages (including the systems in which they exist); Assess the influence of those messages on thoughts, feelings, and behaviors; and create media thoughtfully and conscientiously…” (Media Literacy now). Considering how the PSA is presented at the beginning as a fake documentary on the supposed existence and habits of the titular house-dwelling hippos, this is how the PSA is able to utilize its message of developing skills in media literacy. The presentation of the fake documentary is meant to make those who are viewing it question whether what they saw was real or fake (as even stated by the PSA itself at the end, when it asks 'You know it couldn't be true, don't you?').

  But how successful was the PSA in bringing awareness to this particular topic of media literacy? According to Research to Action, apparently, the original version of the PSA was not as effective, “The jury may still be out on how effective the original PSA was among their target audience; the launch was nostalgically celebrated on social media, but with quite a lot of people admitting that as children they thought the house hippo was real… The new ad makes the point more explicitly…” (Clarke “Return of the House Hippo: Literacy Week”). 

Although, the PSA was able to bring up a good topic on how children should develop good media literacy skills to question the things they see online, the vintage PSA (as there is a 2.0 version that has been updated from the original to fit with more modern times) never explicitly states that what was presented in the PSA was all just made up. Not only was the original not as explicit, as it is in the 2.0 ver. that directly shows the greenscreen effects and editing at the end of the PSA as to how they were able to implement the footage of the hippos, but this is not shown in the original. 

With the message not being explicitly stated in the original, this is most likely the reason why the message was lost in most children back in 1999. Even if the original PSA was not as effective in sending the message out in media literacy (especially to children) in 1999, the message has stayed relevant since then; considering how children are more adapted to using social media in today's climate, and so, would now require media literacy skills more than ever. 

With the CCA being a Canadian based company, the audience that this PSA, along with many other PSAs from the CCA, would be Canadians. Further expanding upon that, the CCA targets the 'House Hippos' PSA at any child or person who watches content on TV or online. According to the Young Consumers interview with Cathy Loblaw, with one of the focuses of the CCA being dedicated to media literacy: “Media can be seen as a ‘fifth language’ and the CCA aims to teach children how to construct and deconstruct media messages, think critically and watch television safely. 

This learning is partly through PSAs, and then the learning is extended through free education packs for parents, communities and schools (Grade K to 8). The CCA Educator also makes visits around the country to provide free workshops for parents and schools…” (Clarke and Gardener). Just beyond media literacy, many of their PSAs were made with other messages that the CCA focused on bringing awareness to children (such as avoiding drug abuse, or preventing bullying in schools).

When it comes to viewing content online, the PSA brought up a good question to consider, that being, “Is what you just saw real or fake?” With how prominent most of today’s generation is becoming with social media and seeing content online, this is an especially important question to have in mind when viewing content online. 

A particularly good example as to why having media literacy should be a good skill for many children to have would be if there was information online being spread about health care, which was an especially prevalent issue during the years of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the World Health Organization: “The increased spread of health-related misinformation in a health emergency is accelerated by easy to access to online content, especially on smartphones. “During crises such as infectious disease outbreaks and disasters, the overproduction of data from multiple sources, the quality of the information and the speed at which new information is disseminated create social and health-related impacts…” (World Health Organization). Especially during such cases as the Covid-19 Pandemic, information on the disease and vaccines were prevalent on the internet at an all time-high. 

Some information online, in regards to getting treatment for Covid, could have been fake or truthful, which made searching up information online much more dangerous. Cases such as the Covid-19 pandemic being one of the many reasons why the ‘House Hippos’ PSA was created in the first place, to prevent children taking fake information online as factual or ‘real.’

The PSA was made around the time when media on TV was becoming more regulated, as the CCA also focused on regulating what children viewed on TV. Media (whether on TV or online) was already an issue in the viewing experience of children and has become even more prominent in today’s societal changes, with everything shifting more onto online spaces. According to the National Library of Medicine: “Television has the potential to generate both positive and negative effects, and many studies have looked at the impact of television on society, particularly on children and adolescents. An individual's child’s developmental level is a critical factor in determining whether the medium will have positive or negative effects. Not all television programs are bad, but data showing the negative effects of exposure to violence, inappropriate sexuality, and offensive language are convincing. Still, physicians need to advocate continued research into the negative and positive effects of media on children and adolescents..” (National Library of Medicine). 

This is relevant to the time period that the ‘house hippos’ PSA was made in, which was in the 1990s. Even with this focus on what children view on TV being emphasized in the PSA, this type of message can now be also made relevant to online spaces as well. Considering that television and the internet are both similar in being able to spread messages across media, the message of media literacy is just as relevant as it was when the ‘House Hippos’ PSA was first released back in the 1990s. According to According to Psychology Today, four particular aspects were prominent with social media usage amongst adolescents: 1) Connections, 2) Identity, 3) Learning, and 4) Emotions. Just like with television, children, and adolescents on social media can both learn and also be harmed by the usage of social media; for example, whilst social media helped many youths build connections with others, and even being able to keep up with family members who live far away, there can also be downsides in these online connections. It was reported that these online connections also made youth feel disconnected, along with other factors that harmed the mental health of many youth, such as bullying being a prominent issue (with how anonymity is utilized commonly online) (Psychology Today). 

Despite only focusing on the media that was relevant and prominently shown on television, the message of ‘house hippos’ on media literacy is just as relevant to the media on social media as well. 

• Muhammed , Sadiq T, and Saji K. Mathew. “The Disaster of Misinformation: A Review of Research in Social Media.” International Journal of Data Science and Analytics, vol. 13, no. 4, 15 Feb. 2022, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8853081/, https://doi.org/10.1007/s41060-022-00311-6. 

• MLN. “What Is Media Literacy? | Media Literacy Now.” Medialiteracynow.org, 28 Jan. 2014, · https://medialiteracynow.org/challenge/what-is-media-literacy/. Accessed 21 Nov. 2023.

• Moyer, Melinda Wenner. “Schoolkids Are Falling Victim to Disinformation and Conspiracy Fantasies.” Scientific American, Spring Nature America, 21 Sept. 2022, www.scientificamerican.com/article/schoolkids-are-falling-victim-to-disinformation-and-conspiracy-fantasies/.

• World Health Organization. “Infodemics and Misinformation Negatively Affect People’s Health Behaviours.” Www.who.int, 1 Sept. 2022, www.who.int/europe/news/item/01-09-2022-infodemics-and-misinformation-negatively-affect-people-s-health-behaviours--new-who-review-finds. 

• Paediatr Child Health. “Impact of Media Use on Children and Youth.” Paediatrics & Child Health, vol. 8, no. 5, 2003, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2792691/. 

• ma, lybi. “The Pros and Cons of Social Media for Youth.” Psychology Today, 16 Oct. 2021, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/evidence-based-living/202110/the-pros-and-cons-social-media-youth. 

• Chretien, Cole. “Advertising Concerns: A Retrospective Look at Canadian Public Service Announcements.” The Sheaf - the University of Saskatchewan Newspaper since 1912, 29 Mar. 2018, https://thesheaf.com/2018/03/29/advertising-concerns-a-retrospective-look-at-canadian-public-service-announcements/#:~:text=One%20of%20the%20primary%20distributors,that%20aired%20on%20Canadian%20television. Accessed 25 Nov. 2023.

• Clarke, Kimberly. “Return of the House Hippo: Media Literacy Week.” Research to Action, 9 Oct. 2019, www.researchtoaction.org/2019/10/return-of-the-house-hippo-media-literacy-week/. 

• Loblaw, Cathy. “Concerned Children’s Advertisers, Canada.” Emerald Publishing Limited, 2005, https://www.kidsandyouth.com/9.05.pdf.

• Loblaw, Cathy. "Cathy Loblaw." https://ca.linkedin.com/in/cathy-loblaw-91962717. Accessed 25 November, 2023. 

• Carradine, Diane. "Diana Carradine." https://ca.linkedin.com/in/diana-carradine-91132429. Accessed 25 November, 2023.