Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Threepio wouldn't say it if it wasn't true

When I was a kid, Star Wars was everywhere, and I mean everywhere - I got a free poster from a box of Cheerios, every sports highlight reel had John Williams's music, kids played with the Millenium Falcon between Saturday morning cartoons.

(Tangent: in that last, the kid ran through his backyard, holding the MF, yelling, "Jump to lightspeed! We're gone! On to the Death Star!" I questioned the logic of announcing the destination when that was not, in fact, where they wanted to go. Even at six, I was too literal-minded for my own good.)

Anyway, the gang showed up in public service announcements too, and they were lighthearted ones, in contrast to just about every Smokey the Bear ad being designed to scare the shit out of you.

Here are two I remember watching during the Captain Kangaroo show. One encourages kids to get their shots...



...and here's an anti-smoking one. You've got to admit, Artoo looks cooler when he's working on a Marlboro.

And just in case you missed the adult appeal of Star Wars, here's a "don't drink and drive" PSA that's based in, you guessed, the Mos Eisley Cantina.

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