Can you guess what these vintage Public Service Announcements were about?

Remember Bert the Turtle and Mr. Yuk?

Growing up, some of the most memorable television commercials were public service announcements. Who could forget Smokey the Bear, Woodsy Owl, the weeping Iron Eyes Cody and "Time for Timer"? These PSAs popped up between our favorite cartoons and sitcoms.

Some famous TV folks were involved in creating these spots. Even if you never saw them, you can probably fathom what they are about. Right?

Let's see if you can remember or guess what these vintage PSAs were helping to raise awareness of.

  1. What is this bear helping to prevent?
  2. What is Mr. Yuk here helping to teach?
  3. Johnny Smoke here is try to keep kids away from…?
  4. Why is this man kissing a donkey?
  5. Bert the Turtle is teaching children to "duck and cover." What is that for?
  6. What is this friendly fridge helping to prevent?
  7. Yvonne Craig, Adam West and Burt Ward! What is Batgirl hoping to achieve in this PSA?
  8. This Hanna-Barbera PSA looks a bit like Scooby-Doo. What is it about?
  9. Rod Serling from The Twilight Zone! What was he talking about?
  10. What kind of insurance was this puppet helping to sell farmers?
  11. What were these 'B.C.' cartoon characters calling to "ACTION"?

Can you guess what these vintage Public Service Announcements were about?

Your Result...

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Pellentesque nec ante ipsum. Mauris viverra, urna et porta sagittis, lorem diam dapibus diam, et lacinia libero quam id risus.
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
Close

132 Comments

Kramden62 8 months ago
7/10. Thrown by #s 4, 8, 9, and 10, which I never saw.

Although: One PSA I distinctly remember which should deserve an honorable mention was one from 1974 produced by the Yellow Ball Workshop (they did the animated segments on the 1970-71 kids' show "Hot Dog'), Group W (now absorbed into Viacom/CBS), and the Children's Television Workshop (now Sesame Workshop) aimed at young consumers.. A young boy was watching TV and noticed a commercial for a strange but interesting toy (punctuated by the sound effect of a toy train clicking and whistling). He begs his Dad to get it ("Dad, Dad, can I have it? Please, Please, Dad, can I have it?"), but then he said, "Ask your Mother, son." "Mom, Mom, can I have it, please, please, Mom?" Then his Mom said, "All right, honey. It's your allowance!" Here's the part that stuck out in my mind, as my younger sister and I used to joke about it all the time: The boy excitedly says, "I can't wait! Plug it in! Plug it in!" Then a title card says, "Next Day....", and then the boy's Dad is ready to plug the toy in. He says "All right, son....", and then: BUZZ! BUZZ! ZAP! The whole city experiences a massive power failure. After which, the boy ruefully says, "Gee, that wasn't any fun, and I spent all my money."

It is a crying shame I can't find a video of this PSA on YouTube or Daily Motion. I know I would be laughing like crazy if I ever see it again! Anybody else remember it?
Hollie 8 months ago
10/11 i dont remember the batgirl one
Snickers 8 months ago
10/11 I remember the duck and cover films they used to show in school. Could never figure out how hiding under my desk would help me live through a atom bomb explosion.
geatornez82 8 months ago
10/11. Missed #9. How are you supposed to know what he's talking about? Especially if you haven't seen that particular PSA (which I haven't).
LynCarrigan 8 months ago
I didn’t watch that much TV back then. Now I watch a lot since my eyes make it hard to read; so glad to have ME TV.
BuckRogers 8 months ago
I remember an old animated anti-smoking psa of a soldier laying dynamite, then using his last match to light the fuse. He is out of matches so he tries crawling after the lit fuse to light his smoke and crawls right up to the dynamite bundle when it explodes, presumably blasting the soldier to pieces for trying to light his cancer stick.
Mblack 8 months ago
I had a Smokey Bear comic book in 1965, I think from the US forest service.

I still have the Little Golden Book about Smokey.

I think I saw Smokey at tye zoo once
Bapa1 Mblack 8 months ago
I had a GoldenBook about Smokey also. It was his life story.
ncadams27 8 months ago
#7. I didn’t know Batgirl was actually employed by Batman, much less for a long time (as of 1973). How much do sidekicks get paid? I remember a sketch on Johnny Carson where Tonto was looking for a new job and when asked what his salary was, he said “What is salary?” Carson asked “What do you get in exchange for your chores?” Tonto: “Him let me peek under mask once. No big deal”
Moverfan ncadams27 8 months ago
"Cook for Kemo Sabe, make clothes...thirty lousy years..."
Bapa1 Moverfan 8 months ago
.....then go into town looking for information and get beat up.
Moverfan Bapa1 7 months ago
"Me have information."
"What does the information say?"
"Information say Tonto no go to town, that what information say!"
AnnaRentzVandenhazel 8 months ago
Adam West was NOT in the commercial for equal pay. In fact there's a story about Adam West somewhere on this website where it talks about how he refused to be in the ad. The Batman costume was worn by Dick Gautier.
Runeshaper 8 months ago
7/11 - don't really remember any of these outside of Smokey the Bear!
15inchBlackandWhite 8 months ago
10/11. They sold nuclear fallout insurance? Seriously?
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?