Infamous UK Public infomation ad (1 Viewer)

[Rob]

For any of my fellow Brit forum members of a 'certain age' (by that I mean in your forties). Do any of you remember the scary public infomation ad/film 'Apaches' ??. It was a warning film made to be shown in Primary schools to scare the living daylights out of us young kids and stop us even considering playing on farms. It featured five or six kids, who whilst playing Cowboys and Indians over the course of a week are one by one killed in thoroughly unpleasant farm accidents. Crushed by gates, drowned in slurry, falling off tractors into ploughing equipment etc. Possibly the most shocking was the Girl who during the day drank poison from a shed on the farm, the film cuts to nightime and outside her house, we see her light come on and just hear pitiful screaming as she dies as a result of the Poison. It was very scary, so scary in fact that after a while they ceased showing it in schools as it was thought too graphic.But I never played on farms!!

I saw it was on sale on dvd the other day, it brought back a childhood memory I'd forgotten all about.

http://filmstore.bfi.org.uk/acatalog/info_18174.html

I think my US friends have these don't you, are they called infomercials over there?

Rob

 

[jazzeum]

You have to be kidding Rob but I guess we all had to live through such things.

I remember when I went to college in 1969, the administration wanted us to watch "Reefer Madness," about the perils of marijuana. Seeing that movie was such a crack-up that about the only way you could sit through it was stoned

 

[Rob]

You have to be kidding Rob but I guess we all had to live through such things.

I remember when I went to college in 1969, the administration wanted us to watch "Reefer Madness," about the perils of marijuana. Seeing that movie was such a crack-up that about the only way you could sit through it was stoned

I kid you not Brad, in the 60's and 70's during school holidays, our tv progs were laced with these type of ads warning us of everything from speaking to strangers, the dangers of crossing the road or playing near railways...they must have expected a high mortality rate amongst us whilst away from school!!

Rob

 

[thebritfarmer]

Just a few years before my time but I do remember those "ads" with the Kid and his cat Charlie.

 

[lancer]

We had all the stuff growing up, too. It is a wonder, with all the pitfalls awaiting us, that anyone survived to adulthood. Now the A-bomb drills were another thing entirely. Still remember hiding under the desks at school. -- Al

 

[Rob]

Heres the most notorious made for tv ad of them all, again it scared a generation of kids away from the waters edge. If you recognize the Vincent Price type voice its none other than Donald Pleasance, he of Great escape and Halloween fame

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sg6IVUvVsAs

Rob

 

[Combat]

I remember they had many of these sorts of ads for teenagers learning to drive. "Blood on the Highway" "Highway of Agony" "Mechanized Death" "Red Asphalt" and that sort of thing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx-rXEdaGao&feature=&p=32C989E56632650E&index=0&playnext=1

 

[Rob]

I remember they had many of these sorts of ads for teenagers learning to drive. "Blood on the Highway" "Highway of Agony" "Mechanized Death" "Red Asphalt" and that sort of thing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx-rXEdaGao&feature=&p=32C989E56632650E&index=0&playnext=1

Strong stuff!

Rob

 

[Mitch]

Wonder if these actually reduced any deaths at all??
Mitch

 

[Cardigan600]

Yo Troopers, so spare a thought for us OLD SOLDIERS who grew up with no TV and had to go through the War of life without any guidelines, so its now wonder we are as tough as nails. Did the guidelines make a difference I would say so. Only last night I was saying to my wife Mary I cannot believe our son Mark and his grasp of the English language for a 3 year old he just amazes me with the words he comes out with plus if my wife say gets on the step ladder he will comment be careful Mam thats dangerous so they do listen and take note its all down to the TV.
Bernard.

 

[Rob]

Wonder if these actually reduced any deaths at all??
Mitch

Yo Troopers, so spare a thought for us OLD SOLDIERS who grew up with no TV and had to go through the War of life without any guidelines, so its now wonder we are as tough as nails. Did the guidelines make a difference I would say so. Only last night I was saying to my wife Mary I cannot believe our son Mark and his grasp of the English language for a 3 year old he just amazes me with the words he comes out with plus if my wife say gets on the step ladder he will comment be careful Mam thats dangerous so they do listen and take note its all down to the TV.
Bernard.

I think the ads aimed at warning kids not to talk to strangers became more common after the Moors murders and as Bernard says if tv helps push the message home its a good thing. Don't know if they make these sort of ads anymore. There is certainly an argument for the Railway/ level crossing safety ads, the amount of people killed each year on our railways (especially crossings) is appalling.

Rob

 

[Mitch]

Rob...

That was one of the things I was thinking and just seen in the news that two people have died in this recent cold weather playing on ice.

I think we may be a little to soft nowadays to have adverts like that as the one showing the little girl hit by the speeding car was pulled due to its graphic nature!!!
Mitch

 

[Rob]

Rob...

That was one of the things I was thinking and just seen in the news that two people have died in this recent cold weather playing on ice.

I think we may be a little to soft nowadays to have adverts like that as the one showing the little girl hit by the speeding car was pulled due to its graphic nature!!!
Mitch

I agree, and lets face it, the more shocking the ad the more chance it has of being remembered.

Rob

 

[Combat]

The media with its 24 hr "news" outlets now overdo it with this type of fear mongering. For example, I lived in DC for many years and when a snow storm was forecast - even for a couple of inches - every network goes into nonstop storm coverage. Everyone you spoke with would mention it for days in advance. And if it was more than 4 inches, they would go into hyper coverage like it was the end of times. People raided the grocery stores and barricaded themselves in their homes. It's the same with child abduction, missing persons, bed bugs etc. The chances of being struck by lightning are many times greater than being involved in any such thing, but people are fear stricken by the constant news reports. They believe serial killers, terrorists and sex maniacs are lurking everywhere. It has had a real impact on our culture. Fear and paranoia. I was talking to someone from a rural area recently and they told me armed police officers are stationed at all their public schools. This is in the sticks and not someplace like NYC. Violent crime has actually decreased significantly in the US in recent years. But you rarely hear that sort of thing. It's all sensationalized news to get the highest ratings. And that means blood and violence.

 

[Rob]

The media with its 24 hr "news" outlets now overdo it with this type of fear mongering. For example, I lived in DC for many years and when a snow storm was forecast - even for a couple of inches - every network goes into nonstop storm coverage. Everyone you spoke with would mention it for days in advance. And if it was more than 4 inches, they would go into hyper coverage like it was the end of times. People raided the grocery stores and barricaded themselves in their homes. It's the same with child abduction, missing persons, bed bugs etc. The chances of being struck by lightning are many times greater than being involved in any such thing, but people are fear stricken by the constant news reports. They believe serial killers, terrorists and sex maniacs are lurking everywhere. It has had a real impact on our culture. Fear and paranoia. I was talking to someone from a rural area recently and they told me armed police officers are stationed at all their public schools. This is in the sticks and not someplace like NYC. Violent crime has actually decreased significantly in the US in recent years. But you rarely hear that sort of thing. It's all sensationalized news to get the highest ratings. And that means blood and violence.

I agree Doug, some of it is clearly designed to get people worried and worked up, and some of it is disgraceful. Sometime back on a breakfast news channel over here they did a perfectly valid item about the safety of unstaffed tube stations at night. They sent a femail reporter to an unstaffed station at the end of a tube line at night (not another person in sight by the way). Now bearing in mind she had a cameraman and a sound operator with her, so at least three of them, she turns to the camera pulls her collar up and says ' I'm scared now, I think I should leave'!. Pathetic, truly pathetic, clearly designed to scare any woman who already had fears about travelling at night. I do hate this sort of scaremongering , as well as totally over the top it is so amateurish.

Rob

 

[theBaron]

...I think my US friends have these don't you, are they called infomercials over there?

Rob

Hi, Rob, no, informercials are half-hour commercials pitching products, sometimes with celebrities from the "Where Are They Now?" bin (eg, Air Supply), or up-and-coming actors/actresses, looking for their big break. Sort of the Class AA ball of celebrity; reality shows would be Triple-AAA. But I imagine your hysteria messages there in the UK are equally entertaining. But it's hard to beat the Cham-Wow or the Snuggie

Prost!
Brad

 

[Rob]

Hi, Rob, no, informercials are half-hour commercials pitching products, sometimes with celebrities from the "Where Are They Now?" bin (eg, Air Supply), or up-and-coming actors/actresses, looking for their big break. Sort of the Class AA ball of celebrity; reality shows would be Triple-AAA. But I imagine your hysteria messages there in the UK are equally entertaining. But it's hard to beat the Cham-Wow or the Snuggie

Prost!
Brad

Thanks for explaining that Brad

Cheers

Rob

 

[theBaron]

No, we have a proliferation of ads on the radio for products that would be useful in some sort of post-apocalyptic world, whose survivors are terrorized by roving gangs of mutant bikers. Survival back packs, filled with MREs; heirloom produce seeds; safes; and of course, gold, and not just shares of gold stored somewhere, real gold, shipped right to you. They crack me up. I mean, heirloom seeds? They don't discuss the fact that the people buying them have no experience raising crops, and that for the seeds to be useful, you have to find and hold a piece of territory for a growing season.

Of course, there are the dietary supplement ads, too...

 

[thebritfarmer]

No, we have a proliferation of ads on the radio for products that would be useful in some sort of post-apocalyptic world, whose survivors are terrorized by roving gangs of mutant bikers. Survival back packs, filled with MREs; heirloom produce seeds; safes; and of course, gold, and not just shares of gold stored somewhere, real gold, shipped right to you. They crack me up. I mean, heirloom seeds? They don't discuss the fact that the people buying them have no experience raising crops, and that for the seeds to be useful, you have to find and hold a piece of territory for a growing season.

Of course, there are the dietary supplement ads, too...

and blenders, shredders, dicers, mixers, ovens, face cream, vacuums, steamers.