A Comprehensive History of the British Public Information Film | Lite Writes

[@doctorwholover1012]

I hear the word "PIF" my brain immediately goes to two clips, the dancing animated Stop Look and Listen hedgehogs, of which I had keyrings of in primary school, and a NSPCC one where a live actor father violently abuses a cartoon boy via slapping, choking, shoving, belittling etc until he pushes him down the stairs, where the camera pans to reveal a live actor boy facedown in a puddle of blood at the bottom of the staircase. Ah, fond childhood memories. And that's before teen me saw the "after crushing his mother to death, he sat back down" one about not buckling up in the car. (Edit. I was born 1999 so I just missed the 90s PIFs. Second edit: damn u mentioned the first two i referenced lmao)

[@LiteWrites]

I was born in 1998 so I've seen most of the ones you've mentioned too!

[@dboypompeyreturns]

NSPCC Dummy. It's hideous. Also, don't see, Don't Look. It's also horrendous.

[@troywright359]

He is not in a pool of blood at the bottom.

[@TheChipmunk2008]

with me it's JIMMMMYYYYYYY.. i'm now an electrician lol (with an expired 11kv switching cert)

[@stephengr2050]

I grew up on Canadian informational shorts so all of these were new to me, but my roommate was so happy to see the hedgehogs crossing the street after so many years and very excitedly told me that they all made it across okay in the end. It was a nice release after the intensity of the other shorts from the 2000s. This was excellent, the pacing was great and your script kept me engaged through a pretty long video. Keep it up!

[@LiteWrites]

I had a bit of a binge of them all when I was a bit younger, and the lucky one really stuck out for me, the 2000s one where the kid was ran over, and since then I found a cult following that documented these things! That's where my interest comes from :P thank you for watching!

[@LZAad-dt5kz]

@@LiteWrites Some time last year after a particularly tumultuous time in my life, I started thinking about some of the PIFs (I'm English) amd wondered why they were so terrifying to me and why, even as a gamer and horror film fan, they stuck in my mind as a terribly traumatic television experience as a child. I had a binge myself, watching all PIFs from my gen (90s ones) and from different times and countries. What I thought is remarkable is the difference between countries approach to PIFs or PSAs.

[@maxteeth]

i can't imagine watching some of these as a kid, i feel like i'd be scarred for life

[@LiteWrites]

The one with the bone crunching always stuck with me, I hated hearing it!

[@maxteeth]

​@@LiteWrites yeah, seems like the sounds play a big part in general. the girl screaming in the farm safety one would have messed me up, and the distressed noises in sunday lunch were also a LOT. kind of relieved i got to watch most of them with your voice-over instead!

[@LiteWrites]

@@maxteeth Idk what was up with the UK from the 70s onwards but apparently scarring children for life is the only way to go about ensuring their safety?

[@ellenmarch3095]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/aXfXf6BveMx0bLc

[@troywright359]

​@@LiteWrites what's up with this "showing the danger is always wrong to show to kids"? These stayed with us and had an impact on us. It gives advice and it's more effective to show outcomes of ignoring that advice.

[@LilyK314]

Very informative and kept my attention the whole time (not counting the parts where I had to mute and scroll down until a PSA was over). I grew up with American PSAs, which were not quite as brutal, though there were some disturbing anti-smoking and anti-drug ones. A series I saw that stuck with me was with people paying for a pack of cigarettes with parts of their body, like teeth or skin, which were supposed to represent the decay or loss of those parts when you smoke long-term. Don't know whether its good or bad that PSAs got more scary over time, but they do stick with you.

[@Zach.R]

This is an excellent video! very interesting how you took such a deep dive into PIF's as I honestly thought PIF's started in the 60's but to find out that it started in the 30's is wild. Honestly great work!

[@PatrickTCAPIreland]

Irish/Northern Irish Road Safety PSAs are chefs kiss, absolutely scarring as a young lad, I’ll never ever drink drive!

[@Horror_N_M3tal]

Psa/Pif commercials scared the crap out of me as a child. but as an adult, I understand the message they are trying to get across.

[@rdpcl]

A few years ago I was introduced to PSA/PIF via KZbin suggesting the HelloImAPizza channel and at first I was horrified, but then I was oddly fascinated. I'm thankful that I didn't have to watch these randomly on TV or movie theaters, because although I've had plenty of exposure to PSAs and can remember most of them without issue, I just can't watch them at night/dark. I must say that I had totally forgotten about the "One Second A Day" PIFs by Save The Children, and I instantly thought of the recent Ukrainian refugees escaping the war.

[@Treppy_Gecky]

This needs way more views! Your research is sound and your delivery is really fun and really makes the niche subject matter interesting to learn about!

[@leeharding5800]

Have got to throw out an honourable mention to Think’s 2008 “tales of the road” ad campaign - growing up in the 2000s to 2010s era, I remember the ones you referenced, but none got under my skin like those beaten up ghost children and the creepy voiceover, in primary school they handed out bookmarks with their white little faces on them. Really cool video, thanks for making it!

[@catchatdev]

The Poisoning death in apaches is probably the most horrifying thing I've ever seen in a PIF o-o those screams are too real

[@d3vilcrunch834]

Amazing video! deserves a lot more attention than it currently has!

[@LiteWrites]

Thank you so much 💓

[@mlgteletubby1306]

Man the "So what's it gonna be" Took me back to memories I forgot I had. Awesome video :)

[@LiteWrites]

Thanks again for watching! I had a bit oh a phase for these so I'm glad I got to make a video about this eventually! Lucky was the key video for me tho!

[@star7communicator]

I was just looking for a video like this, thanks! I'm in the States so I LOVED seeing this from an "across-the-pond" perspective. What an excellent watch.

[@yahney-marie]

i’ve always been fascinated with the art of the english psa! really nice overview, i enjoyed this video!

[@ItsJesMe]

I'm a little sad it only covered the UK, only because I wanted to see someone else's reaction to the "meth song" in the US (unsure what the spot was actually called.)

[@rioberryman]

If we're thinking of the same PSA, it was called "Cleaner Girl" (slightly unrelated sidenote: there were two different versions of it)

[@isabelvalente3608]

In Brazil, there has always been a discussion about whether these types of advertisements would have positive effects or whether they would only serve to shock and disturb the public. Because of this, there aren't many scary PSAs. But there is Drogas Nem Morto, ads by the Brazilian Partnership Against Drugs that was similar to the Partnership For a Drug Free America.

[@ChanceKearns]

This video deserves to have so much more attention than it does

[@LiteWrites]

Thank you for watching! It was a video I really enjoyed making :D

[@adjjal]

I've just found your channel through ur contrapoints vid, I love your content a lot, thank u for all the work and effort u put into ur vids !

[@sggmoscow8579]

47:28 thanks for the content warning but JESUS CHRIST I see why we don’t get these psa,s anymore

[@cryingovermagnetic]

the fact this only has 363 likes is a travesty, this is such an interesting topic very well researched. it deserves so much more

[@battyrae1398]

this is such a fascinating history! I'm a little sad, though not surprised, that this only tackled one country. i feel like i could write a whole ass thesis on the cultural impact of ghost chips hahaha. But the level of work youd have to put in for all that would be wild. Love the vid and im so happy to have learned a little more abt my favourite mini horror flicks haha

[@jacobgong691]

Thank you for pointing out how often old psas used ableist rhetoric! I couldn’t ignore them when revisiting them recently

[@pumpkinmaryam5500]

i think i got an ad similar to most shocking second a day once recently. it wasn’t the exact one you showed, more likely a variant on it, but basically the same idea. the funny thing is i started watching psa collections years ago and saw that exact one that got shown to me *years* before youtube showed it to me as an ad edit: it was the sequel one that i saw! you literally mentioned it a second after i wrote this comment lol.

[@ThePhantomSafetyPin]

Wonderful work! Now please do one for American PSAs, it's the same sort of look at culture.

[@newforestpixie5297]

i’m a very old farm boy & haven’t regularly watched tv since the early 1980s so many of these were a new experience although i have a feeling the farm danger film was updated in the 1980s & of more gruesome or dramatic nature. Hey - very old folk might have noticed the anti drink drive Barmans’ impression of the lads’ dad was actually a fairly decent impression of Harry H Corbett from Steptoe & Son. I literally expected him to add “ You dirty old man !! “ very extensive - must’ve taken up a lot of your time. Thanks from woods near Bournemouth 😃🐢🐀👽🍒

[@Haybalemelonhead]

I remember watching internet safety PIFs, some of them are really funny

[@dianaramos7998]

Is it bad that I got scared by the dog in 34:59? Like the dogs eyes got me.

[@jessicacortez6777]

Ww2, the empire does indeed strike back.

[@faye4896]

i know im a bit late but i just wanted to say this video was so amazing! i cant believe it has so little views im really looking forward to watching the rest of ur content because this was so intriguing!!! (ALSO LMAO R U A PROJECT SEKAI FAN.. >> I LOVE SEKAI I THINK THATS SO COOL)

[@TheVidkid67]

Our screens were full of them in the 70's, but they sort of fizzled out during the 80's and beyond apart from about 2 or 3 a week.

[@liminal.7731]

Shoutout to "You wouldn't steal a purse" for making me afraid of going to 2nd grade music when we watched movies

[@GloomyFish]

I always liked the "so what's it gonna be" one

[@mikaeruu0309]

Oh wow I know this is like 10 months old but I gotta comment regardless... This is a topic I've been super into for like a couple days now for some reason. Started someday and I do not know why. I feel very heard by KZbin right now, recommending me all this random less than 100k view content... But I insist, this video should totally have more! Also I couldn't help but notice those sekai recommendations in the middle of the youtube recs section 😭

[@thandiislost]

sunday lunch legitimately traumatised me, oh my god

[@pickledegg1989]

14:06 🤦‍♂️ nuclear energy =/= nuclear weapons. Like, at all. It's amazing that 70 years after the first nuclear power station, this needs to be said.

[@RabidLeroy]

Society would have been a touch more better if they still played more PIFs in between tv shows during the lockdown era… or before and during YT videos… heck, todays advertising (not counting the memorable ones that make it to Cannes Lions or Adeaters) feel bland and saccharine.

[@XSlimSxadyX]

British culture is much different than American culture and this video really emphasized those differences, our PSAs are still crazy tho haha!

[@ShnobbsReal]

Don't care what you say, still calling them PSAs. Btw. Great video. Keep up the great work!

[@justynmatlock8873]

The Coast Guard on the 'phone appears to be Noel Coward :-) !

[@TacticalBurritoSystem]

I guess one of the most interesting things about PIFS (Yes, us bloody Yanks called them PSA's) was the timeslots and usage they had. Most of the nightmare-inducing ones never made it to children's programming blocks, unless they were dealing with Anti-drug campaigns. When got into Broadcasting classes in high school, we had MASSIVE amounts of PSA's, and I came to learn they were used as filler for commercial breaks to fulfill some sort of government awareness program for TV viewers. So we got to pick and choose the most Trauma-inducing ones for our High school local cable access programs. "and we'll have more about this weeks football highlights after this break" Run a sponsored spot RUN A PSA ABOUT GUN VIOLENCE/KIDS PLAYING WITH GUN WHERE A TEDDY BEAR IS SHOT AND BLOOD GOES EVERYWHERE "Coach joviality talking about the win against our hated rivals." I'm going to be fair, the one that got me badly as a kid was a AD Council drunk driving classic. Scared me to death as a kid and I would run screaming from the room if it came on, only ran during watershed hours (after 8pm). Its even got Michael Jackson's "Beat it" Prominently playing in the background. kzbin.info/www/bejne/aGeVo2qNqtqnaKM

[@naomistarlight6178]

Did "Nigeria: Making a Nation" rip off of "Birth of a Nation" I wonder? It looks similar and has a similar name, but that could be a coincidence.

[@jaycee330]

You don't know John Hurt's icon chestburst role in "Alien"?

[@SilentHillMama]

Thanks for this comment. I was about to say that most ppl know him as Olivander (Harry Potter) rather than his awesome role as Kane in 'Alien' (1979).

[@jaycee330]

@@SilentHillMama Of course, everyone should know the "John Hurt moment"...

[@naomistarlight6178]

Y'all had "So Some Colonies Are Independent Now... Here's What it Means For You" ads XD

[@Kakmanmartinez666]

I grew up at the wrong time I guess. I was born in 2000. I know a lot of those anti drug PSAs were around in the 90s here in America. The most I've ever seen was the anti tobacco ones with Terri and the Truth ones before they decided to pull a "fellow kids" and use Jake Paul and meme culture in their anti vape ads. We also have those drunk driving ones with the cops doing camo and watching people drunkily walking to their car before they get pulled over. My favorite ad is when the cop pulls over a dude and asks "have you been drinking tonight?" And when he opens his car door, beer comes spilling out of his car. Not really creepy but it was interesting to have something. Idk maybe they don't care about us 😂 albeit, I was a very well informed kid growing up and my mom never had to worry about me doing something dumb and getting killed over it. Yeah I can legally drink and smoke but addiction isn't all that worth getting caught up in. Forgot to mention: here in America, they'll play anti smoking PSAs in the beginning of certain DVDs.

[@geoffwright3692]

Can't agree less with the comments about "Dave". The whole point is supposed to be a scare tactic, and the outcome of death or disability is a viable possibility. This is quite a good walk down memory lane, but to call it "ableist" is excessive, and indicative of a generation seeking to find offence in everything. Lord knows how the narrator of this would react to some of the Australian TAC ones.

[@EmeryRain]

I know John Hurt from Merlin.

[@verylargemandarinslice8965]

I can’t believe a year later and this video has 7k views, I’m somewhat of a PIF/PSA enthusiast myself but man people don’t appreciate these stuff

[@callmeobsequious]

You know what, after that first one, I think I know what happened. Edit: You know what? I like your humor. I wanna give you a sub.

[@lodgin]

Okay, seriously, that How Much Is That Doggie PIF has to be satire, it just _has_ to

[@XSlimSxadyX]

Also I’m so sorry about your friend and I hope he’s doing alright now

[@ShuffleSwitcher]

Surprised no mention of ‘Talk To Frank’ drug awareness campaign. My favourite was the Get Yourself Seen one of the 1970s, about bike visibility at night.

[@ikhotivus]

i think they still exist where I live! I just saw one a few days ago about opioids

[@EmoBearRights]

MTV was the early 80s at least in America.

[@andrewchristian6466]

23:37.because it doesn't matter cultural appropriation is such a non issue it's horrifying to think that people actually take this seriously.

[@GloomyFish]

found the white guy

[@TheChipmunk2008]

Uhhh MTV was 1984

[@eptix1707]

who's the girl in the thumbnail?

[@eptix1707]

@@everythingeverything8627 thanks man!

[@TheChipmunk2008]

never seen the gun crime one, but, LOL.... if you see gun crime, you would report it

[@bellevicious2862]

Hey, I don’t choose to call myself American, I begrudgingly admit it.

[@chriswaring5565]

DENISE VAN OUTON IN THE EYES DRINK DRIVE AD CAMPAIGN

[@XSlimSxadyX]

38:11 IMMEDIATELY KNEW YOU WERE GAY LMAOOO Hello fellow gay person!

[@chrislang9442]

Do you honestly think that your sucker punches at conservative politics are really relevant to this? Even worse, your refusal to do any real research on John Hurt’s career before actually doing this video absolutely astounds me. I guess anyone with lack of real research can do a video! Furthermore, I am a disabled person, but your complaints about the chip pan PIF are absolutely ridiculous. The point was to avoid the process of throwing water at a chip pan, not to degrade and humiliate a disabled person. Sounds like you’re very fragile about things, and it’s pretty pathetic.