When disaster strikes, monetary donations can be the difference between struggle and survival. Shirley (Boyang) Xu and her Master of Communication Management classmates were tasked with creating original marketing materials to help get that message out worldwide as part of Matthew Curtis’ Spring ‘22 CMGT 587: Audience Analysis course.

Curtis linked the assignment to PSAid, an annual contest sponsored by the Center for International Disaster Information. Nearly 600 students designed Public Service Announcements in the form of static images, videos, and digital images and were judged based on creativity, originality, and the ability to communicate the message “Cash is best.” 

Xu was among the students in the class, who decided to submit.

“We were all given the same assignment to create something original for the contest and it was my first time developing a poster of my own,” Xu said. “The rocket represents how fast cash can be transferred around the world and the turtle is the slow-moving materials. I learned so much through this process thanks to feedback from my classmates and the ability to apply what I learned in order to help people in the future.”

Xu won the People's Choice, Static Image award for her image titled “Cash Communicates More than Materials Do.” This is the second year in a row that a USC Annenberg student has won the People’s Choice award. Kelsey Yin and Shawn Chang’s design, “Cash Machine,” were the 2021 People's Choice, Digital Image winner.