Public Information Films (PIFS)

[80s gail]

Remember these? i loved them, wish they would get airtime again!My favs were the one where a man who was tired while driving would be thinking of can can girls and birds would fly in a caption over his head!early 70s that one. Also the one with petunia and her husband who had spotted Dave who could swim like a fish, but the husband said"He's not waving he's drowning!"And Petunia said "learn to swim young man, learn to swim!"Also Charley says!!,oh it's all coming back now!

[dean80's]

the ones that scared me were the one where the kid was trying to get his kite/frisbee back and got electrocuted by a pylon!!! oooohhh!

[Woffski]

The best link for all the Public info films i have found. You know you want to download them all , and now you can :-)

http://www.tv-ark.org.uk/pifs/pifs_a-f.html

Enjoy.

Woff

[Pootle]

There's a DVD of them, called Charley Says with loads of them on it. One of my sister's friends bought it and lent it to her, but its really one of those things that you can only watch once without getting bored. Worth getting though, even if it's only for the "Spirit of Dark and Lonely Water" one voiced by Donald Plesence (You remember, the one with the hooded figure like the Grim Reaper standing by the side of the pond whilst the stupid boy clings on to a rotten branch to get his ball back?).
Or you can just download them like Woffski said...
But, remember, always tell your Mummy before you go off somewhere.

[Pootle]

the ones that scared me were the one where the kid was trying to get his kite/frisbee back and got electrocuted by a pylon!!! oooohhh!

We used to call them the "Jimmy Wires", from the "Jimmmmmmeeeeeeeee!!!!" on the advert! We had a substation at the bottom of our road too, and it used to scare the pants off me going by it and hearing the buzzing sound. Eek.

[Steve Jablonski]

Public information films

Does anyone remember the red Austin 1100 Blunders ads from the 1970's?. I've just seen the 'Charlie Says....' DVD for the first time and couldn't believe they were on there, nor how well I actually remember them. With all those old Cortinas and Escorts plus dodgy fashions they really were a trip back in time.

Does anyone remember other safety ads of the time, funny or gruesome?

[David]

I can remember one about mixing "cross-ply and radial tyres on the same axle" which featured a red car, is that the one you're talking about?

Also one about "driver fatigue, it can put you to sleep for good" which showed the back of a lorry.

[Wil]

Watching both volumes of Charley Says... is like watching a social history of the UK. It's just fascinating!

[Trace]

I LOVED the Charlie Says ones - I tried to explain them to my hubby - I am sure he was thinking weird limeys.

[Wil]

I he's a child of the 70s ask him about H.R.Puffinstuf! Weird yanks

[Steve Jablonski]

[QUOTE=David]I can remember one about mixing "cross-ply and radial tyres on the same axle" which featured a red car, is that the one you're talking about?

That was one of the ads, but the others (involving a MK3 Cortina crashing into another car at some traffic lights and a MK1 Escort crashing into a phone box) were about wearing a seat belt (cue graphic heads going through windscreen shots). Mixing the tyres was a classic too, I have to agree, but I just wish they weren't so obvious about the closing shot of the 1100 being dropped upside down from a crane.Ohhhhhh, the days before CGI!

[Secret lemonade drinker]

It never got any better than:

'Dark means danger, so get your self seeeeeeeeeeeen!
At night, make it bright, in the dark keep it light...'

The kid on the chopper, with the tin-foil outfit is a sight to behold, as was the man with the fold up bike.

I used to record a terrible metal show called The Power Hour (then Raw Power) and those old '80s PIFs were the real highlight. The best TV is often found at 4AM.

[hotmetal]

OK not strictly an ad, more PIF

Is it only me who can remember the horrific "don't play on the railway" public information film?

The one that is forever seared into my memory
was as improbable as it was horrendous.
It featured a load of kids in shorts and singlets doing a "Great Tunnel Walk" which was (improbably) written on a large banner on the tunnel. Kids walk into tunnel, train comes, with predictable outcome. Adults go in and retrieve bodies. This might possibly have been on as a cinema pre-film rather than on telly, I can't remember. Not very realistic but I did stop messing about on the line after seeing it!

Hey, I've found a link! "Finishing line"

[CARROLLKRC]

I remember late 70s , early 80s safety ad with the 2 boys playing frisbee.

Of course it flys of in to a substation and one of them goes to get it , but its just out of reach. So he climbs up and stretches, he then slips and bang , hes electricuted.
The final shot is of the dead boys school uniform on the stairs , with a radio news bullitin playing in the background informing of his tragic death.

Hard hitting stuff

[Nuts&Sauce]

Great thread!

I remember many safety ads including..

Bedtime routine - couple having a song and dance about turning lights off / locking doors etc.

Learn to Swim - 'This is mike, he swims like a fish'

Dont put a rug on a freshly polished floor - Guy comes home from maternity ward and trips a over e. - 'you might as well be setting a mantrap'

Lock up your doors - Cartoon to the theme of green door - 'big bad axeman don't you let him in outside the front dooooor'

Tufty getting run over by Mr Whippy

Lifting objects with a straight back - Cartoon weightlifter sheds springs and repeats in a robot voice 'could cause injury'

Rolf Harris teaching his kids to swim

Think bike - did the guy hit a watermelon with a baseball bat?

Slow down when overtaking horses

Braking distance - 'only a fool breaks the two second rule'

I also remember an ad when a guy doesn't have a plug, so pushes the wires of his drill into the socket with matchsticks.

Can anyone think of some more?