American Reacts to Top 10 Most Effective British Adverts 

I'm British so have grown up on hard hitting public service/charity adverts. Some of the public service ads from my childhood that were aimed at children were so terrifying I've never forgotten them. The boy getting electrocuted by the power line, the kid drowning in the river, the kid getting run over by the train - really hard hitting and gritty. We don't sugar coat anything in the UK!

It's not f*cked up, it's reality. These things happen and it takes impactful adverts like these to get things done. Genius advertising in my opinion.

Context For non uk viewers - The one where the boy falls out of the tree isn’t promoting ambulance service or career it’s a charity which is volunteer led with provides health and first aid. They’re really amazing and just in 2021 trained half a million people in life saving skills. They also trained 30,000 people to give vaccines during the pandemic. ❤️

As an aussie who grew up with similar style ads. And seeing multiple americans react like you to this stuff makes me think your country has done itself a disservice by not having this around to show some of the harsher shit that happens in life.

The Brits don't pull punches when it comes to public safety ads. Australia and New Zealand followed suit. I think it's good, and it's proven very effective.

In Britain there is a road safety organisation called THINK and they’ve made some horrific adverts over the years. You could do a whole video consisting of just those

Having been through domestic abuse as a child, the Bernados one is actually pretty accurate. Thats how we be, and I'm so grateful to the people who invest so much time in putting people like us back together. I'm now doing a masters at a great university, and one day I would love to adopt a child and give them a better life than I had! :)

Yeah I'm British, they would show adverts like this in primary school. I still remember them now, genuinely traumatic, if you're an adult it's still even shocking

About 20 years ago I was trying to give up smoking but struggling. There were a few adverts on at the time. One had a mum explaining to her child about why the mum was dying of lung cancer due to smoking. My 3 year old daughter saw it and burst into tears begging me not to smoke and die. I stopped there and then because of that and haven't smoked since. Nasty but they work.

I have to say I am proud of our hard hitting adverts. They are representing serious problems, so they need to upset/provoke people. I remember the "Break the cycle" one over a decade ago and it stayed with me for years.

When I was a bit younger I saw an advert against drinking and driving. It all focussed on a classroom with an empty desk. The missing child had been killed by a drunk driver. The teacher's and all the children's faces looked grief stricken. Then the child narrator ended by just saying "he was my best friend". I just burst into tears. I have never, ever touched a drop if I'm driving since I saw that advert. I just hear that little boy saying "he was my best friend". I have to say these adverts do make me proud that as country we can call a spade a spade and take the attitude that sometimes you need to be upset, sometimes you need to be made uncomfortable. Sometimes some things are more important than how upset you feel.

Honestly it’s interesting to see an American react to this, because as much as these ads might have traumatised us as children, growing up with them has made us feel like this is the standard for advertising, and at least for me I no longer get traumatised as much but rather am able to accept the message they are trying to portray.

In my 10 + years of driving I've never gone over the limit because all I hear in my head is 'if you hit me at 40'. If you know you know.

There was an advert in New Zealand about speeding,"Its better to arrive late than dead on time"...very effective.

I remember being shown a PSA about smoke alarms in year 5 and it gave me an irrational fear of smoke alarms not working ever since. the ads sure are effective, better to be scared of it than careless.

Actually something else has occurred to me, the first Bernado's one where the guy was regressing back to a child showing all the trauma is actually positive because it does show at the beginning that he does eventually end up in a good place because of the support he gets from the charity (although it's a long slog to get there)

The one advert that always stuck with me was a road safety one. It depicted a mother driving her two children. Daughter in the front seat and son behind her. The car was involved in a smash and the son was thrown forward, hitting his mother's seat, which forced it forward, crushing her. He landed dazed in the back seat with a nose bleed while his sister screamed. I don't even think I was very old when that advert was doing the rounds but damn straight I always did my seatbelt up.

This is why British comedians are so good. We hit everything head on. No subtlety when you need to make an impact - whether good or bad.

As soon as I saw the start of that Barnardo's advert I started crying - the "I'm scared" at the end absolutely breaks my heart and I remember it all these years later from when it was on TV. I've just gone and donated to them because this has reminded me of all the good work they do.

Britain takes safety seriously, especially of kids like you'll have seen. The barnardos one makes me cry every time, especially knowing people who've been helped through their help. You should watch the fire, road and drug safety presentations they show to kids in primary and high school

You say we have f****d up advertising, I say we have effective advertising. What is advertising supposed to do? Sometimes you have to make people feel uncomfortable to get the right response. I appreciate your channel, but I am so proud to live in a country that can sometimes treat it's tv audience with some respect and not pander to the lowest common denominator.

These are from some of our great UK charities, and provide a reality check where it's needed. I especially appreciate how they treat the audience with the intelligence and respect to be able to draw their own conclusions and make the right choice at the end of the ad.

Yep, also British and remember so many of the PSA ads and short films we had growing up. They do stick in the mind! Farm dangers, electrocution, "Charlie says don't play with matches", firework dangers, crossing the road safely, speeding, " clunk click every trip" for seatbelts - the list goes on! These are ALL PSAs - we do have more "normal" commercials that sell stuff too!

One I remember from my younger years was the animated girl who got hit by a car. It was so creepy, it really scared me. I remember that they handed out reflective key rings at school to put on our bags so that cars would notice us. I have no clue how big of a problem kids getting hit by cars is here, but they really convinced me lol My uncle would show me some of the adverts from the 70s and I was really shocked that they were allowed to be shown on TV. But then again I suppose it was necessary

The British are renowned for doing things in a dark manner, whether it be humour, or in this case impact advertising.

13 years ago there was an anti smoking advert on British tv where a little girl says all the stuff she's not scared of like monsters, the dark, the neighbours dog. Then she said "there is one thing I'm scared of... I'm scared my mummy's going to die" it then shows her mum smoking with other parents outside the school. My son was one when I saw that. I went straight to the stop smoking nurse a couple of days later. It took me 4 trys but I've stopped smoking for 6 years now. They're hard to watch but definitely work ❤

I used “Sarah’s Story” in my speaking and listening exam where we had to write and present a presentation for or against euthanasia and it’s an advert I still find hard to watch so I knew it would guarantee shock factor and get my point across. I think I got the highest grade I’ve ever received with that presentation. Powerful stuff.

Just a little story about St Johns Ambulance, a local woman served in St Johns for many, many years, she was also our Lollipop Lady (road crossing safety) she had two sons both with degenerative diseases. She didn't come from a rich background, lived in a council house and yet she was, apart from my parents, possibly the most influential person in my early life. Mrs Moorby, thank you for everything you did!

I could almost feel your shock at the effectiveness of these adverts. But to be honest, if this 'shock' helps save one life every time someone watches, the price is worth it.

One of the last jobs worked on when I worked in construction, was clearing out a local authority house that had caught fire after the father had come home one night drunk, put on the deep fat frier to make himself something and promptly fell asleep. Both parents died, one of the children didn't make it due to smoke inhalation and the other was hospitalised. Our job was to clear out all of the possessions into the skip outside, and clearing out that poor boy's room was the one of the most harrowing ordeals that I had to go through. None of the other guys would do it - they just couldn't bring themselves to be in a room where a child had needlessly died due to smoke inhalation. Seriously folks; check those smoke alarms.

5:07 reaction had me laughing 😂🤣. Welsh British here and I remember growing up with these public service announcements. I never played on a railway line, nor did I fetch a stray toy from a power station. These gave me nightmares but kept they kept me alive 😄

The two that got me most here in the UK were ones called "See track, think train" and the other "Live with it". The train one had massive shock factor as it comes across like an advertisement for a family getaway or something, so the end shocks you. Live With It is about a man who's going about his life seeing the dead body of a boy he accidentally killed speeding, like under his desk and then the spine tingling last shot when he turns over in his bed. They're here on YT if you're curious.

They’re all brilliant because they all achieve their sole purpose which is to raise awareness to situations.

Full respect for watching all these back to back, here in the UK they'd be in the middle of other adverts, which often increases the effect as you're not expecting it, but at least you don't spiral. Having such affect is how you know you're a decent human being, so don't forget that. Great reaction, thank you.

Grew up in the 90s in the UK. Those ads hit you where it hurts and were often the stuff of nightmares, literally sometimes. But they made you think and made you remember the message they were saying. They were made even more effective as they were shown for short runs of time and not every advert break. They would never be shown like this back to back as they were so hard-hitting. Well done on getting through them in one sitting. Not easy.

Hi Beard. My father in law was a Barnardo's Boy. He grew into a fine man. Joined the Royal Navy as a youngster and won a (DSM) Distinguished Service Medal during WW2. For Valour. While serving on board HMS Aroura at Narvik 1940. Such a quite man never spoke of his award or the war. But always praised Barnardo's who he said gave him a good life as a youngster and made him the man he was. But true to British form, was direct, no sugar coating. Face things head on. Sometimes it takes a shock to shake some people out of lethargy. I think adverts as these are good, they make you listen and make you aware of changes we all can make. Bye the way your wearing a hat with my name on it. "wow"

The Think, hit child talking on the roadside saying “if you hit me at 30…” advert I see in the UK stayed with me to this day. I watched it as a kid & still think about how driving just the thinnest bit over the speed limit could be the difference between life n death if there were to be an accident

Man, when the UK does adverts, they do adverts *REALLY* well. As a Kiwi, I can get behind all of them. *edit: US advertising seems to me as 'mere' entertainment for the masses. In the UK, at least, and many other European countries it's more about the message. Grotesque? Because MND is a grotesque disease. Can't sugarcoat that in any way. Can't be lighthearted, fun. Hard hitting, indeed. And then some.

I remember when I was in primary school, they showed these types of ads during assembly, and I was traumatised for a while, it was about electrical safety, and it showed someone climbing a pylon, it ended with a shot where his brain was exposed.

Yeah our ads can be brutal. I often find myself in tears with some of them. We don’t mess around. When there’s a point to be made, we make it. It’s meant to haunt people so we don’t forget the messages behind it. I do believe these ads have saved lives because they are extremely hard hitting and un-forgettable. I’ve been caught off guard in a cinema with these types of ads before. Yup they’re shown in our cinemas too. These are shown too throughout the day. My teenagers have found some hard to deal with as they’re just so graphic. Barnados’s is a incredible charity that I’ve had the pleasure of working with over the years and that’s one charity that definitely doesn’t mess about with what they want to say. I think they’re the most hard hitting ads generally.

If you don't think about situations they will get ignored and forgotten. These ads ensure you remember and are aware. Thank you for watching and posting this. If they spur one person into action they have done their job. Let's hope it's more than one. Watching 10 in a row is very heavy and emotional, you have my respect for getting through them.

i don't think this guy was ready for this. May we never stop creating these adverts. They genuinely make a difference.

my aunt worked for bernados in australia. 3 years whas all she could take as the stories where so horrendous the burnout rate was incredible. I helped at a couple of do's for fundraising and got to meets some of the kids and it was heartbreaking. the one that did me in was the 6 year old who taught himself to read and write from the age of 4 because his mother neglected him.

You're a good man EB. It was very clear that these adverts hit you hard, especially all together. They used to show adverts like this when I was in primary school, especially about road safety.

The thing that struck me is that the first advert was a response to 15 children dying in a year. Then we see the news about school shootings in the US and are shocked by the apparent lack of any meaningful response.

A proper reaction. Thank you. These adverts were not profit driven and they used very good creatives to script, act and direct mini stories within a limited time. These people are at the top of their game and need to deliver hard hitting but honest messages. They are meant to be cautionary or uplifting. To raise awareness, prevent harm and more. Wishy washy ads would be a waste of time and money.

I'm from the UK although I now live in Poland, but I remember most of adverts, particularly the "I Am a Crisis", "Sarah's Story" and "Break the Cycle" ones. But there are many different things about them: *These adverts are hard-hitting, but when they're broadcast, they're not broadcast consecutively. An advert break could consist of adverts for things such as Frosties cereal with a family being happy and jolly, then the next one might be SCS with some happy people jumping on some sofas which are £650 reduced from £950. And then suddenly, one of these adverts would come on, and then afterwards, it's back to an advert for ASDA with them bragging about how much cheaper than Tesco they are. This adds to the effectiveness of these safety adverts because they stand out more than if a whole bunch of them were broadcast one after the other. *ITV, which is the main advertising channel back home in the UK, is split up into regions which broadcast advertising both across the whole channel and whichever region your in. It's a hangover from the days when ITV was a collection of individual regional franchises which used to produce and broadcast content both for their own part of the country and to be put out across the whole ITV channel. Anyway, some of these adverts would have been shown in certain ITV regions, but not in others. So for example, I'm from Swansea in Wales, so the Transport for London one in this compilation with the motorcyclist who's just been knocked down by a car wouldn't have been broadcast on my home ITV region (ITV Cymru Wales) because Wales is in an entirely different part of the UK to London. We're literally on opposite ends of the country from each other. But ITV London would have shown it because it applies to London. Even the smoke alarm advert wouldn't have been shown in Wales because we have different standards and statistics when it comes to fire safety as we have devolution. The boy in the advert even mentions England specifically, so what would be the point of ITV Cymru Wales broadcasting an advert which doesn't affect us no matter of its message? Most of the channels which carry advertising in the UK are centralised from London, so even adverts for things which only affect England are still broadcast across the rest of the UK as well, so in those instances ones like the fire alarm advert would be shown nationally. But as ITV remains the biggest advertising broadcaster in Britain, it's just hit and miss with what adverts each region decides to broadcast even when it comes to safety adverts. *Our safety adverts don't pull any punches because that's just how we British are as a people and as a nation. American culture is just all about image and escapism, with the aim of getting the viewer out of their own lives for a certain amount of time and make them forget who they are and the lives they lead. In the UK we don't do that, at least not culturally. Everything from our soap operas to adverts are about social realism. With some exceptions, the majority of people in our adverts look just like us, the characters in our soap operas look just like us and are just like us, our safety adverts are effective because they don't beat around the bush. They tell you how it is and what could happen if you don't test a smoke alarm or know first aid. Long story short, we don't sugar coat things!

I'm from Northern Ireland and we have some of the most brutal anti drink driving adverts on our TV, I never realized how bad they actually were as I grew up with them, but a spent a year of my life living in Amsterdam and was watching TV with my Italian and Czech flat mates and a Dutch anti drink driving advert came on and I laughed my head of at how light hearted it was and my flat mates were like that's not funny until I showed them the adverts from home and they were horrified that these were on TV all the time. They could instantly see why i thought the Dutch advert was a joke though.

I'm a 51 year old British man and I felt every emotion you did. Seeing them all together hits even deeper than when they are shown alone. I will guarantee that you will have changed at least one person's life for the better. To do that is a wonderful thing and I thank you. Take care brother, and just keep doing you. That's all we can ask.

I enjoy so much of your content. This is probably the most genuine reaction i have ever seen on the channel. As much as these adds are hard to watch, they serve a purpose. Even if they only make you think once, its better than never.

In my secondary school everyone in S4 (age 16 roughly) had to go to a road safety day, where we were talked to by police, accident survivors and family of people who had accidents, and shown videos similar to these ones. It was very hard hitting, and it was common for people to need to leave because it was too much. Never forgot it.

As a British person....with our humour..... We're used to it... It's not funny but we take it on board..they're not funny... We take it in.... Our humour always makes it better.... We can't help ourselves.

I think it's the difference between our countries, from what I have seen the US tends to steer towards the optimistic, we tend to go with reality more, even when it's difficult to watch. I remember our hiv/aids awareness ads in the 80s, they were dark but got the message across.

As it says in the title, these ads were effective. They have saved lives. How is America doing on preventing unnecessary deaths? Our ads are blunt and disturbing, but they are impossible to ignore. Sometimes you need to shock people to make them understand.

I was born and raised in london, so I grew up seeing a lot of these adverts as a child. I think the last advert specifically was a shock to all of the british public who were not as aware of issues in other countries like syria. As a BME person in england, our communities are often more aware of things like this, and a lot of the time we actually specifically know people who have gone through the kinds of events like those in the adverts, so seeing it isn't as shocking for us. However I think the fact that they placed a caucasian british little girl (that would probably identify to someone who looks a lot like the average brits family member), in a situation that people all around the world go through everyday, was the true purpose of the advert. When there is someone who looks a lot like you and you can identify with that person, the issue/circumstances they are going through often hits a lot harder- so you can actually imagine it as if it were happening to you or your loved ones. This is a great advert, and a lot of my white friends were shocked upon seeing this. I think its a remider of the true reality that thousands of people go through everyday. Its a great reminder to pay attention to the causes going on around the world, and if you can, remember to donate to charities fighting to save the children in those circumstances!

The title said it all. The director of each clip were exemplary. Your respect, showing very clearly that the effort and expect makes it all worth their efforts. Hitting the public right between the eyes gains much needed attention. These events happen daily in every country, city, town, village and home and folk need to be aware, acknowledge the signs and take the appropriate action NOW.

#2 Torture by Any Other Name: It says something about the pulling power of some charities in the UK that they got double Oscar-winner Emma Thompson to play the role. And a good thing too! (This was 2007. She became chair of the Helen Bamber Foundation and last I heard she still was.)

As a English man born and bred I really feel I need to point out we do actually have quite a good sense of humour…although you wouldn’t think it watching these, but they do the job !!

This is without a doubt the best reaction video I have ever seen! The reaction for the "Tree" infomercial was classic! I am British, and I know these are hard hitting, but am so proud that the government and charity's go to all this to help protect us in the long run. Serious things should not be easy to watch and if one child was saved because of these ads then it was all worth it.

The 2008 bardardos advert was out of my brain until this video, as soon as I saw it I knew the one. It's crazy how easily stuff like that can stick in your head.

As horrific as these are Alan, the purpose as you know is to make you think. I had so many emotions here. Fear, anger, plain shocked, disturbing & sickening to name a few. But they sure are the stuff of the nightmare that so many suffer. Thanks so much for responding to this, it’s needed!

Your silences said more than any words. Unfortunately the hard hitting adverts work the best. Many years ago my grandmother choked to death as my aunt watched because she panicked and had no idea what to do. She said sorry so many times even though no one blamed her. I realised that I could have been in the same situation so I immediately signed up to learn first aid and CPR. I used it only a few times over the years but I saved a man having a heart attack, a young man suffering a drug overdose and recognise someone going into shock and having concussion. So as yet I haven't used it to save a choking victim it was worthwhile learning😊

I'm from the uk and grew up watching these type of ads still get chills up my spine seeing them now

The Think road one where the guy kept seeing the dead kid he'd hit in his car, like under his desk at work etc. was one that stuck with me, for sure.

I was pretty surprised that none of the really hard hitting, graphic and visceral adverts that I remember as a kid weren't in this compliation. This seems to be strictly newer ones. You should do another video with a wider range of the UK ones as there are some serious "0 to 100" ones out there, often car or road related.

It's interesting how many of our most famous directors started out in advertising. Ridley and Tony Scott being two of the most famous, and Ridley's advert for Hovis bread was recently voted as the greatest Brit TV ad of all time. I think British advertising seems to understand the importance of great advertising to sell products or put forward a strong message.

24:57 this is one of a few adverts I remember, perhaps because it was shown as I was into my teens so it's easier to recall. The ending is really hard hitting One of the others I semi-remember is the one with the kid talking about what happens if he's hit at 30mph versus a few mph more. I don't think I was shown many as a kid, mostly because I'd only watch kids TV and these would tend to be on family channels, but with the few I've seen, even if I don't remember the advert, I remember the message behind them. They do their job.

Just came across your video - I have seen a lot of these over the year, brought up on them from a kid. I tell you what, growing up with these, they stick, there's a lot of road safety ones, over 40 years later I still look left and right before crossing a road even though I know it's empty it is so ingrained because of these. Thanks for showing these again.

I spent 27 years as a volunteer member of St John Ambulance so I remember ads 9 and 4. We were trained very well though fortunately most of us, being volunteers, rarely saw much very deep stuff. In my 27 years I personally only once had to do CPR (1992 ish) and never had to deal with a choking, but I did see a lot of unconsciousness due to drugs and alcohol at the various pop/rock festivals or on 'drunk bus' duties, as well as a few broken bones in horse/sporting events. On the flip side, there was great cameraderie and great support and most of the time we went to events where nothing happened and had a great time. I met some amazing people and wonderful characters, some of whom I will never forget.

You have proven their effectiveness. Can’t stand to watch but can’t tear your eyes away! They make people just realise that whilst most of us will never come across these situations, they do exist. A very real reaction.

Remember these are not advertisements in the commercial sense. They are safety warnings…we don’t have horrific product ads.

It's those grim "learn first aid" ones that made me learn basic and then medium advanced first aid. Because when the ads ended, the thought of "Well, what IF a person I like or love needs it, and I can't help, and they die, and I live without them"

I remember the PSA on TV in Britain about road safety aimed at kids. Two cartoon hedgehogs crossing the road singing a tune to remember stopping, looking and listening before crossing. That didn't stop drivers from being irresponsible. Should see the more realistic PSA's about speeding affecting others on the road. Brutal and gruesome but they only showed a small slice of reality and that was enough to make people think.

In the same way our humour can be really close to the line, we are also ok with this sort of advert too. British adverts are often more than just "Buy our product", some of the advertising campaigns we have had are incredibly well thought out and are entertaining in their own right.

As a Brit, this was so awesome to watch! It’s so cool seeing your reactions to our PIFs. I’d love to see you react to HelloImAPizza’s entire channel! 😍

As much as ads like this are hard hitting, the way you felt watching these is how I feel every time there's a shooting on the news, especially in schools. Those aren't hypothetical stories with actors to make a point, they are real lives that still don't leave an impact but it crushes me from within every time because I'm not desensitized. That gut wrenching knot that tightens and you don't know how to vent that feeling.... every time. I'd rather have hard hitting ads for a collective change than news that is an endless cycle of no change.

I'm proud that we live in a country that hits home hard the truth of life and hardship people go through. You don't help people by sugar coating the truth. Loved watching your reactions to this! 😊

These are all phenomenal adverts. Sadly UK ads are much more tame these days although a couple of these still play.

As a patreon viewer of yours Alan it’s good to see a different side of you & to see your views on a different side to humour….it’s good to see those adverts cause it’s reality & the world we live in

The funny thing is these are shown between normal adds so one second you could be watching a kinder egg add then all of sudden you see one of these

Watching this again I have to say the little girl in the final advert did an incredible job. Developing that thousand yard stare must be difficult for an adult actor and yet she hit it dead on.

I remember pretty much every single one of these. Just shows how effective they were.

Two adverts that really stick in my mind are: the cartoon child being beaten around with the cartoon sounds, he's thrown down the stairs and it changes to a real child being beaten by his father. The orher from when I was a child was the road safety, with the apple being smashed by a hammer.

I've ridden bikes for over 50 years now but I've always remembered what the guy who taught me to ride kept saying " When you are on the bike (6:26) always think that everyone is ready to wipe you out but the worse one is the guy you see in your shaving mirror every day, so when on the bike concentrate at all times".

I haven't seen adverts like these in about 6 years, and I'm sort of worried that I haven't, because it means these subjects are not being brought to the public eyes. We watched alot of these adverts during high school and the point was to educate us, alot of them were safety videos about not playing on train tracks or climbing into substations to collect your football

I was interested to observe your reaction to just these 10 adverts and watch how visibly disturbed you looked and felt, but there have been so many more made and aired on British TV since the 1960s (that's how far back I remember them!). If these topics touched you as an individual don't you think that a few similar 'dark' adverts, maybe syndicated on TV networks across the US might help to effect some sort of change in people's attitude to certain subjects (mass shootings in schools is the current one that sticks in my mind) and might just encourage people to look at things a little differently for the future. These adverts aren't produced by large film studios, nor are they done on large film budgets or have Hollywood directors making them, just a bunch of independent actors & crew putting these together along with an occasional "known" face to give things a little more weight. Remember, these made you stop and think about situations and subject matter which made you extremely uncomfortable in places, so think how a similar bunch of adverts could affect the American people if they were made in a hard hitting, very 'dark' 60 or 90 second segment? I'm an old man now, but these and so many more adverts like these still affect me in the same way that they did when I first saw them. On a lighter note, I really enjoy your reaction to our good old self deprecating British humour...keep it up!

We grew up on these ads, I remember when I was a kid my parents would leave me and my sister home when they went shopping a lot, and they'd say "We'll be 20 minutes" and take well over an hour, sometimes several hours. The whole time in my head was "I am a crisis, and I don't care who you are." That damn advert had me convinced, every time, that they weren't coming home. They were effective, but boy we were not ok.

Man you got some guts to watch these back to back, mad respect. I used to see a lot of them while living in London it's... Always a hard watch

as a child i remember seeing one late at night which revolved rape i believe that was the most hard hitting one ive ever seen, our adverts over here intend to shock to entice people to take action and i can say historically this has worked massively in our favour

Thank you for reacting to these TV ads. I feel honoured that you have shared your emotions with me. I'm retired now, but I can remember seeing every one of these ads on my evening TV. In the UK, we have lots of feelgood adverts, so for an ad to have impact, it has to be different to the crowd. These ads are designed to hit by bringing the dark emotions to the fore. Even though I first saw some of these adverts many years ago, I still struggle with holding back the tears. I'm a sucker for the ones involving children, and a different advert back in the 1980s caused me to take up voluntary work with a children's group. I still have fond memories of the times when we made a difference to a child's life.

I'm now in my 50's & I can still remember the old 70's & 80's UK Government PSA adverts. They were hard hitting, but the more up-to-date ones are truly on another level. They are made with the full intention of shocking you & making the advert stick in your mind for a long time. Very powerful, very hard hitting & straight to point.

As someone that has been born and raised in the U.K. & grew up watching these as ads it’s hard hitting. Especially the the car ads that use to show kids getting run over or people getting their legs crushed and we use to watch them in school for road safety topics. My friend to this day can never watch them again she has to turn it over if they come up cause they still run them on tv to this day. They’re all very effective but I’ll never forgot the ads that I saw as a child that is forever etched in my mind

22:26 That was acclaimed actress Emma Thompson in the horrifyingly effective ‘Helen Bamber Association’ ad.

These are pretty brutal when you have them all together - well done getting through them! I remember seeing them on TV and the MND one really freaked me out. Partially because my Mum had a mix of MND and MS. I had to help her when she was choking too as she lost control of her throat muscles as her diseases got worse. It's absolutely terrifying watching someone you love gasp as they choke. Thankfully my sister and/or I were there each time so she was ok. If you're feeling brave enough, look at some of the old public safely/information films from the 70s/80s. Most of them are longer than an average advert and it's def better you just watch 1 at a time. I remember one I watched in school about an electrical substation, one which was sports day themed about playing on train tracks (I think it's called "the finishing line"), one about being safe around ponds and bodies of water and one called Apaches with kids playing on a farm. They're all pretty brutal considering they were made for kids!

These ads have impact and make sure that we as a population understand that our actions have consequences. We need more of these, we need to see reality.

Good selection, hard hitting to say the least. In the UK, we either are overly polite, respectful and witty or brutally hard hitting, there doesn't seem to be much middle ground. That's I guess almost a reflection of our culture and our behaviour. The public safety adverts that were shown when I was growing up in the 70s & 80s were brutal and very graphic, you never forget them, and Brits talk about adverts quite a lot because they are usually memorable, and definitely in our top 10 of favourite things to talk about along with tea, the weather and what sweets (candy for the US readers) we remember from our childhood. Great reaction video, I could feel your pain. You deserve a strong cup of tea now old chap ;)

The DOE adverts were the toughest ones. The one where the girl is kissing her boyfriend and they get hit. He’s trapped against her legs, dead and she never walks again. That one stuck with me.

I've always liked that our adverts can be so funny, so silly, uplifting, and entertaining. Then you also have this type, hard, uncompromising, dark, and deliberately in your face with the sometimes ugly realities they portray. I love these, they MAKE the viewer aware of things they might otherwise choose to ignore or turn away from. They can be truly disturbing, but I think a "softer" or more sanitised version would not be effective and could even minimise the subjects, leading to even more dismissive uncaring attitudes about them. They work precisely because they are raw and real. 👍

I think one of the big differences in how brits see ads is that we have less in general. Each ad needs to hit the watcher in the feels cause they might only see it once rather than every 5mins like in the US. Public services, charities and health in particular hit hard to make sure you are actually watching and taking in the info. I remember watching a lot of these during school when I was 10+, particularly road safety/stranger danger as we started walking to school alone in the winter.

Ads in Australia about similar topics like youth drinking and drug abuse, drunk driving and so on used to be similarly brutal. And so many of those ads showed during afternoons when kids were watching TV with their parents. One particularly impactful ad I remember as a kid was one which showed the first person perspective of a motorcyclist who had had an accident on the highway and was slowly dying. And then died. Another one where to girls were walking out of school, laughing about having such a nice day, and just as they cross the road one of them is suddenly hit on screen by a car. It was an ad for road awareness and speed limits. I remember an American comedian was being interviewed and he said how shocked he was. He said in the United States, the ad would be something like "Hey, don't drink and drive!", but in Australia it's "If you drink and drive, you're a bloody idiot!" With the word bloody idiot stamped into the skin of your forehead. Lol. Yep