This Retro PSA Is the Most Chipper Warning About Venereal Disease Ever
In Depth
Behold, the most confusing warning you’ll ever receive about the ubiquity of sexually transmitted diseases. So peppy! So upbeat!
These videos make the rounds online every so often, and in fact Jezebel first posted it back in 2008. But you know what? VDddddd is for everybodyyyyy, not just for the fewwwwwww, and that’s a message that bears repeating. Now dance off into the sunset—but remember to take some condoms.
According to the Ad Council—which brags the commercial “helped raise awareness about the prevalence of VD and paved the way for frank and non-judgmental messages on health problems”—this incongruously chipper PSA debuted in 1969, though a short New York Times articleand info from the American Sexual Health Association puts the rollout at 1973, which matches the fashions better.* Either way, it really gives me a lot more sympathy for bewildered members of the Mad Men generation wandering through the cultural upheavals of the time. For maximum earworm, check out the extended version:
Join the discussion...