For every public service announcement that effectively raises awareness for an important issue, there’s one that’s just, well, bizarre. The Huffington Post has compiled a list of the nine strangest PSAs ever broadcast on television, and it’s an amusing mix of spots that are inappropriately funny, downright cheesy, or just plain awful. However, my favorite of the bunch may actually promote its message successfully. It features Pee-wee Herman (Paul Reubens) lecturing us about the dangers of cocaine. At some point, we realize we are trapped in some mysterious dark room with only Pee-wee and an anonymous camera crew, and then the soundtrack starts simulating a thumping heartbeat (or a rave-club beat, your call). If this even remotely resembles what being on crack is like, then I agree with Pee-wee: "It isn’t worth it."
What do you think? Are there any wacky PSAs that still haunt you?
Why so serious Pee?!
Pee Wee’s Cartoon Penny talking about why she would not do drugs. It’s weird.
The Rachel Leigh Cook Heroine PSA left a major impression on me…
A drug psa from the 80′s, where they show a girl’s face, becoming more and more gaunt and haggard looking while ghostly little girl’s voices sang “How old are you now?” Always creeped me out.
The last one, about fridges killing children, was pretty funny. Why did fridges used to have locks on them? They aren’t safes.
The child-swinging one was weird. Who swings a kid around like that? And why didn’t anyone stop him when he was clearly drunk?
The first one, the anti-cocaine PSA, actually makes it sound pretty good. Haha. They don’t really talk about the negatives. I assume it was made for teens, so why the inappropriate clip of the rats? And what the hell is “The Jesus Factor”?
I always hated that one with the black guy who was trying to sell drugs to a kid and he slowly turned into a snake…