History TearJerker / PublicServiceAnnouncement

* In the early 2000s, The New York State Department of Transportation aired a commercial featuring the angry and cautioning wife of a man killed by a drunk driver. While the man should have gotten a stiff sentence, a technicality saved him from more prison time due to him being ''[[ForWantOfANail just below]]'' the state's [=DUI=] limit. Her one comment really drives the point home:

* [[http://youtu.be/njTlLNb0nCA "Kathy Can't Sleep"]], from the UK ''Drinking and Driving Wrecks Lives'' campaign. A little girl is awake in the middle of the night, while her mother is heard screaming hysterically at her father because while he was driving intoxicated he killed a little boy.
** From the same campaign, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kADUAXf7hOo One More, Dave]]. A woman liquidizing dinner is narrated over by people in a pub telling their friend to just have another pint. But even though the friend is about to drive to his mum's for dinner, he gives in and [[DrunkDriver has a pint]]. The woman is revealed to be liquidizing for her son, a quadriplegic. She uses the same words as the narration, and it's implied that the quadriplegic Dave is the same Dave at the pub. It tragically shows how both the drunk driver and his family are affected by the incident.

[[folder: Environmental]]

[[folder: Health]]

[[folder: Humanitarian]]
* The UK got [[https://youtu.be/UR2UsGsHjnM a particularly gutwrenching advert]] from Save The Children a few years back: real videos of emaciated young children lying on the streets with [[https://soundcloud.com/tmbrrw/tomorrow-save-the-children-uk this piano version of Annie's "Tomorrow" in the background.]]

[[folder: Safety]]

[[folder: Safe Driving]]

[[folder: Wildlife]]

[[folder: Unsorted]]

** From the same campaign, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kADUAXf7hOo One More, Dave]]. A woman liquidizing Christmas dinner is narrated over by people in a pub telling their friend to just have another pint. But while the friend is supposed to be the designated driver for them, he gives in and [[DrunkDriver has a pint]]. The woman is revealed to be liquidizing for her son, a quadriplegic. She uses the same words as the narration, and it's implied that the quadriplegic Dave is the same Dave at the pub. It tragically shows how both the drunk driver and his family are affected by the incident.

* The HappierHomeMovie ads for the UK ''Kill Your Speed'' campaign in TheNineties, showing young children smiling and having fun on home videos until the caption at the end tells you they all were all killed in childhood by speeding drivers.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DPdgOWnz1w This PETA campaign]] about the cruelty of using wool-fronted by Music/{{Pink}}; the unsightly imagery of the sheep's infected wounds, the sight of thousands of animals crammed in hot enclosures on boats, and later being slaughtered is a mix of this, NightmareFuel and NauseaFuel all at once.

End the great betrayal.\\

* This 2020 PSA by the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, entitled [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZtWaB-d7ns "Impaired Driving Kills The Holiday Spirit"]], starts off lighthearted enough, with a mother, father and child celebrating Christmas with some light-hearted, joyful royalty-free Christmas music, but it has one of the most extreme [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MoodWhiplash mood whiplashes]] in PSA history, as the present the child opens is ''a smashed and slightly burned replica SUV'' and the music becomes [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DroneOfDread a lot more sinister]], and the father fades away, as it's revealed the dad died in a drunk driving accident prior to the Christmas this PSA took place. The PSA ends with a [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SmashCUt Smash Cut]] to the tagline:

* This promotion video ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjMzXykfbm8 Dream]]'' for the Wildlife Conservation Film Festival, which somehow manages to make "[[Theatre/LesMiserables I Dreamed a Dream]]" even more heartbreaking. To summarize, a group of animals horrifically fall victim to [[HumansAreBastards man-made hazards]]. A pelican becomes trapped in an oil spill caused by a nearby oil rig. A rhinoceros mother is shot then dehorned by {{Evil Poacher}}s and left to die in front of her calf. A blue whale is speared to death by whalers. And finally, a SweetSeal pup is surrounded a pack of seal hunters and is killed by the pack's leader who can't help but ''[[SlasherSmile smirk]]'' before doing so. [[GoryDiscretionShot At least we don't see the cruelty on-screen]].

* This [[https://youtu.be/oV8aV3ZY7SM animated video]] called ''The Bitter Bond'' from the Born Free Organization follows a lion cub being born and raised in captivity alongside [[PhotoMontage being photographed by tourists who flash peace signs]] while the song "Born Free" by Matt Monro plays. Eventually, the lion cub is released back into the wild when he gets older. He eventually reunites with his keeper, who he runs towards to in excitement. [[MoodWhiplash But then the keeper gets up]] right before the lion gets [[BaitTheDog shot by a poacher]]. He realizes that he was sold into canned hunting by his keeper who even [[CerebusRetcon takes the poacher's picture in front of the dying lion while flashing a peace sign]]. The screen fades to black and the following text appears as the poacher drags the lion's dead body into his jeep:

* Barnardo's, a British charity that works with vulnerable children, has a few depressing ads:
** A TV commercial showed a series of vignettes from a girl's life: injecting heroin, mugging someone to feed her addiction, being locked up, beaten by her father, and bullied at school because she can't read. These repeat and repeat at increasingly vicious speed, ending with a statement that Barnardo's is often the only way for such kids to break the cycle of violence and abuse.

Why I'm seeing what I do.\\
* This chilling NSPCC campaign from 2001 called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRdlpexhHH4 Kids Learn Fast]]. It begins in 1971, when a young boy is locked in a closet by his abusive father. It then skips to the present showing the boy, who is now a grown-up, screaming verbal abuse at his young daughter. The haunting music playing over the scene doesn't help matters at all.

It makes me feel ''like ice.''

* This 2020 PSA by the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, entitled [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZtWaB-d7ns "Impaired Driving Kills The Holiday Spirit"]], starts off lighthearted enough, with a mother, father and child celebrating Christmas with some light-hearted, joyful royalty-free Christmas music, but it has one of the most extreme [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MoodWhiplash mood whiplashes]] in PSA history, as the present the child opens is *a smashed and slightly burned replica SUV* and the music becomes [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DroneOfDread a lot more sinister]], and the father fades away, as it's revealed the dad died in a drunk driving accident prior to the Christmas this PSA took place. The PSA ends with a [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SmashCUt Smash Cut]] to the tagline:

* This 2020 PSA by the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, entitled [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZtWaB-d7ns "Impaired Driving Kills The Holiday Spirit"]], starts off lighthearted enough, with a mother, father and child celebrating Christmas with some light-hearted, joyful royalty-free Christmas music, but it has one of the most extreme [[Mood Whiplash mood whiplashes]] in PSA history, as the present the child opens is *a smashed and slightly burned replica SUV* and the music becomes [[Drone Of Dread a lot more sinister]], and the father fades away, as it's revealed the dad died in a drunk driving accident prior to the Christmas this PSA took place. The PSA ends with a [[Smash Cut]] to the tagline:

* A 2000 PSA from [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XL2o9Nz91yE Colombia’s ministry of justice]] advocating the end of the kidnappings by guerrilla groups and death and harsh sentences for kidnappers displayed a family in a funeral home, mourning a family member in a casket. According to the [[RedIsViolent equally disturbing red text]] interspersed with the footage, in bloody red-tinted film noir, they were lamenting one of the 3% of hostages killed (3,572 at the time). What’s even sadder is that a child is holding a WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse doll, keeping vigil over his dead relative. The accompanied synthesized string music does little to help wonders. Also doubles as NightmareFuel.

* A 2000 PSA from [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XL2o9Nz91yE Colombia’s ministry of justice]] advocating the end of the kidnappings by guerilla groups and death and harsh sentences for kidnappers displayed a family in a funeral home, mourning a family member in a casket. According to the equally disturbing red text interspersed with the footage, in bloody red-tinted film noir, they were lamenting one of the 3% of hostages killed (3,572 at the time). What’s even sadder is that a child is holding a WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse doll, keeping vigil over his dead relative. The accompanying synthesized string music does little to help wonders. Also doubles as NightmareFuel.

** Speaking of the "Not One More" PSA's, here's [[https://youtu.be/Lwc-7k4FmLk another one]]. It's about a girl who talks about inviting her mother and her friends to an important event. She talks about having nice music and a pretty blue dress. But she isn't talking about her sweet sixteen or her quinceañera - she's talking about her funeral when she gets fatally shot. Before we cut to the NCPC phone number and the Ad Council logo, a white casket is displayed in front of an open window.

* A 2000 PSA from [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XL2o9Nz91yE Colombia’s ministry of justice]] advocating the end of the kidnappings by guerilla groups and death and harsh sentences for kidnappers displayed a family in a funeral home, mourning a family member in a casket. According to the equally disturbing red text interspersed with the footage, in bloody red-tinted film noir, they were lamenting one of the 3% of hostages killed (3,572 at the time). What’s even sadder is that a child is holding a WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse doll, keeping vigil over his dead relative. The accompanied synthesized string music does little to help wonders. Also doubles as NightmareFuel.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIlPFRsseQ8 This Royal Dutch Guide Dog Foundation commercial]] aimed at veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. A man has horrific war flashbacks in his nightmares, only barely escaping the pain when his dog wakes him up.