Twanna A. Hines @ FUNKYBROWNCHICK.com | sex. dating. relationships.

I Love 1980s Public Service Announcements

So, I was going to wish you all a Happy Fourth of July, and I was going to remind you to drink responsibly. But, that sounds a bit too preachy. Too cheesy. Too much like a Public Service Announcement. Ahhhhhhhh, remember the Public Service Announcements from the 1980s?! For those of you that live abroad as well as for those who might have been born post-1989, the Public Service Announcement (PSA) is a chessy radio or television advertisement that appears free of charge and promotes some kind of “public good”. (Like, for example, a water company might do a PSA on conservation.) So, in the spirit of the good ol’ fashioned PSA, I thought it would be nice if we could journey hand and hand down memory lane together to revisit a few very very special relics from the past—1980s Public Service Announcements that are still relevant today:

Lesson #1: Don’t fall when you can’t get up. Okay, so I guess this one technically doesn’t count as a “PSA” and it’s from the 90s not the 80s, but I love it anyway. This commercial shows an older lady crumbled into a pile on a bathroom floor. She’s trapped under her walker. “Heeeeelllp” she says as she radios to her strap-on emergency call button, “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!!!”

Lesson #2: Don’t leave your pet in a hot car. Okay, this one didn’t run for very long, but this PSA was a 1980s television ad that went something like this … The commercial starts and there’s a picture of an egg frying on the sidewalk. This deep, manly voiceover calmly asks, “Hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk?” Then, the camera cuts to an image of a dog locked in a car with the windows rolled up. All of a sudden, the voiceover guy gets louder and meaner and he booms, “THEN IT’S HOT ENOUGH TO FRY A DOG’S BRAIN!!!!!”

Lesson #3: Don’t use drugs. Okay, apparently fried eggs were all the rage in the 80s because this PSA used eggs, too. In this one, two well-manicured manhands hold up an egg. “This is your brain,” Mr. Voiceover says. (I think it’s the same guy from the dog PSA but I digress …) “This is your brain,” he says. Then, he cracks open the egg, pours it into a black frying pan, and the camera zooms in on the egg as it fries. Mr. Voiceover observes, “This is your brain on drugs.”

Lesson #4: Don’t let dirty old men molest you. Oh my dear, sweet, beloved baby Emmanuel Lewis. This one was pretty funny. In the commercial, little Emmanuel Lewis from Webster takes off running across the screen as fast as his little legs will take him. He talks about the danger of strangers and what you should do if one comes after you. “GO!” Pant, pant, pant. “RUN!” Pant, pant, pant. “TELL!!!”

Lesson #5: Don’t do anything that you can prevent with a good tagline. Life is difficult, but PSAs make it easier. All you really need is a really good tagline. Smokey the Bear warns us: “Only YOU can prevent forest fires.” McGruff the Crime Dog tells us: “Take a Bite Out of Crime.” The Crash Test Dummies put on their seat belts and say: “You Can Learn A Lot from a Dummy.” Nancy Reagan? “Just Say No” (to drugs). Seeee? Life is easier with PSAs.

Okay, kiddies, hope you enjoyed the trip down memory lane! Hmmm … just out of curiosity, does anyone else remember these commercials? Are there other really good 1980s PSAs out there that I forgot?

—————————–

“Have a Safe and Happy Fourth of July.” This Public Service Announcement has been brought to you by Stolie at the Funky Brown Chick dot Blogspot dot Com.