Not quite PSAs, but all of those driver’s ed films with buckets of blood spurting from teens that don’t respect the rules of the road never seemed to do much other than cause morbid amusement.
These modern ones are dumbfoundingly dumbfounding. Seriously, you’d think they were parodies seeing how poorly made and devoid of meaning they are. “Alec, just stand on the office-y set we spray painted all white, take two Ambien, and just start rambling… we’ll cut something together later.”
I’ve always thought the Montana Meth ones were well made. Can’t tell how effective they were. When I saw them I was already knew meth would be a bad idea; they didn’t need to convince me anything.
Well, PSA is no longer considered real helpful for screening for prostate cancer, but I don’t know if I’d call it “stupid” or “useless” just yet.
Though it’s generally not helpful to get a PSA level on a female patient.
Though breast and salivary tumors can sometimes secrete PSA.
What?
Not a PSA, but a warning on the new Duracell Display stand at work:
Caution: Do not use batteries as toothpaste.
I would *love *to know the story behind that admonition!
On the other hand, I have a vivid memory of the 1950s-era film they showed us in driver ed, where Daddy is getting impatient while stuck on a two-lane road behind a couple of dawdling old ladies. When they start to turn off, he guns the accelerator in his haste to get by, they change their minds and cut back in - forcing him into the oncoming lane where he and his entire family get smeared into paste by a giant truck. As a kicker, the family’s possessions are auctioned off and the two old bags who caused the accident show up to buy their stuff. :eek:
So I can contribute something special to this discussion. Here is a local television PSA that I star in. And even at the time, I thought to myself, “Holy Smokes! This is a anti-school violence PSA and I am slamming a locker?” Then there is the fact that I am clearly a “jock” telling other people to walk away if they are bullied. But the real kicker was that the day before filming, I received the script and it had at least 3 "or something"s written (effectively at the end of each sentence). I got so much crap because this thing played for years afterward, but never one compliment or anything other than amusement.
So as a qualified expert, PSAs are completely worthless 
Anybody remember the old PSA’s on the dangers of blasting caps? Were blasting caps really laying around for kids to find?
I sured looked for 'em, after seeing those things. But never found 'em. :mad:
I was shocked, shocked! Did you see the way they failed to wear seatbelts?
Well, my grandfather owned a logging company, so my dad and uncle used to have fun with blasting caps.
That was awesome.
It was created by the guy who played Venus Flytrap?!
My contribution: How about all the latest anti-smoking PSA’s such as this.
The thing that irritates me about anti-smoking PSAs is the depiction that smokers will just feel free to light up wherever they are. When I smoked, I wouldn’t dream of doing it in a non-smoker’s house. Even if they said I could, there’s no way. It just isn’t right. I think the vast majority of smokers are the same way. Yet these PSAs depict smokers as assholes who just light up in someone’s house or car without asking. Give me a frickin’ break.
For me it’s a toss-up between “It’s 10:00 - do you know where your children are?” and the one that opened with an animated toucan saying, “Did you know birds used to have teeth?” and went on to imply that modern birds don’t have teeth because they did not practice good dental hygiene.
Yeah. When I was a smoker I simply would not smoke around kids, even if those same kids’ parents smoked around them.
Does anyone one remember the animated guy who hankered for a hunk of cheese? I guess it was to tell kids to eat cheese instead of candy bars but I don’t remember any kid I know having to be talked into eating cheese. It’s not like he was saying eat cabbage as a snack.
I also hate it because the guy who wants to eat a wheel of cheese was shaped exactly like I’m shaped now. He was a bad omen. Don’t eat cheese, kids or you’ll end up round with stick arms and legs!
I remember the hanker for a hunka, a (something) slice or chunka, I hanker for a hunka CHEESE! Upon reflection, it was probably more about the USDA trying to unload the farmer-subsidy-born caverns full of surplus cheese on an unwitting populace than any health motivation.
Does anyone else remember VD! . . . Gets around!? I know I saw it when I was 9 or under, and had no effing clue what it referred to. But it was so catchy I remembered it later when I was old enough to snicker at its idiocy. (And really, STDs were more prevalent than colds and flu? My bullshit meter is redlining.)