Public Service Announcements (PSA) and Public Information Films (PIF)

I'm creating this thread to discuss Public Service Announcements, ads intended to either inform the public or scare the hell out of them. Share with us your favorites, or your least favorites. Any subject, any country. If you can't find a video clip, describe the ad for us.

Caution: Please avoid posting anything that violates site content policies. Also, some of the subjects in these ads tend to get politicized. Please take all political discussions to OTC.

I'll start off with a classic from my childhood.

I like the way the guy says "last time" in what would become a series of ads spanning over a decade.

edited 9th Feb '14 4:39:31 AM by Morgikit

The 'don't go near open water or you will drown, you idiot kids' one was pretty spine chilling.

Which is probably one of the reasons why as an adult I swim like a brick.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/films/1964to1979/filmpage_lonely.htm

Donald Pleasance's voice in that thing is...

edit. link to actually watch the film is borked in the page.

Try this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb00H6mCTM8

edited 10th Feb '14 2:19:56 PM by TamH70

Well, it didn't quite work that way. The message was supposed to be "be careful around water." But the way the commercial played out, it turned into "Bodies of water are haunted by malevolent ghosts that will kill you, no matter what."

That one was pretty creepy. Some youtuber put it as number one on a list of their 50 scariest PIFs. Don't know if I'd go that far, but I didn't see it til I was an adult already.

edited 10th Feb '14 3:46:06 PM by Morgikit

Although, I gotta say, Blofeld's effectiveness in that PSA kinda vanishes when you learn he's scared of kids who are actually smart about dangerous waters.

Enjoy the Ninth Doctor having way too much fun at the expense of a guy whose speeding caused a crash. Link

I like to find narmy PSAs on youtube, and this is one of my favorites. Here it is in all its glory, complete with the worst attempt at crying I've ever seen.

Clean yourself up, Barbara, you fucking disgrace.

This one is a bit long, but if you want Narm, here's some.

It's called "Last Date", and it's about the dangers of reckless driving. Features a young Dick York (the first Darren on Bewitched).

I could list so many of these, as I'm a huge fan of them. One that I've been looking for forever and can't find it anywhere is the one telling parennts to make sure their guns are locked and unloaded, and has the little kid talking about shooting his brother, and there was another one where the little girl shot her sister. The ending of that one goes, "I made katie go away. I hate me." If anyone could find the vids or radio version of these I'd be grateful.

I thought this one was amusing.

I remember seeing one of those on TV years ago.

edited 25th Mar '14 8:18:56 PM by Morgikit

If I remember correctly, this is the first PSA I ever saw; it was introduced to me by the soundtrack of some game on Newgrounds.

Thought I'd share this series of anti-crack ads from the 80s I came across. There's something...fascinating about them.

The first two are odd. It seems like their intention was to scare you away from drugs, but you have no idea what they're even about until the end.

Ad #1 Ad #2

The last three are very simple, and may remind you of the Pee Wee Herman anti-crack PSA. It's basically the same actor saying the same line, but in a different way, as if he's trying to figure out how a human would say this. The last one sounds kind of like Christopher Walken.

Ad #3 Ad #4 Ad #5

You can't bring up "your brain on drugs" without also showing this:

And this:

Girl in Commercial: Any questions?
The Nostalgia Critic: Yeah: what the hell kind of drugs are you on?

Yeah, that Nostalgia Critic countdown was great.

Personally, I think she was just angry at having starred in Shes All That.

Speaking of heroin though...

Caution: Screamer at the end.

Cause I'm sure I can't be the only one with this morbid nostalgia, here's a collection of 80s PS As from Drug Free America.

Look for special guest appearances by Walter Kronkite and that stoner guy from Step By Step.

Because this may well have been reality for some period.

[Sorry, new accounts cannot post external links.]

When the hell has anyone ever encountered those kinds of scenarios?! Did the people creating these PS As really know what they were talking about??

Reminds me of "Too Smart for Strangers with Winnie the Pooh". Yes, that is a thing.

How do you know that wasn't the MO of kidnappers back in their time?

There are numerous headlines, reports, cases and what have you of kidnappers/murderers/rapists using at least one of those tactics seen in that PSA. People still try these methods today you know.

edited 10th Nov '14 3:43:01 AM by MacronNotes