The 5 Most Terrifying British Public Information Films from the 1970s
Well-meaning propaganda that needs a proper gander
As parents, we are constantly on high alert for anything that could endanger our kids. We do it at the swimming pool, the roadside, the barbecue and in the kitchen.
And now that we live in an internet-enabled world of terror, even the sound of a new chip tune theme song coming from the iPad can make us wary. Modern life is scary for sure, but our parents and grandparents didn’t have it any easier, according to the film output of the Orwellian-sounding Central Office of Information or CoI.
There was a time — in the 1970s and 1980s — when the CoI were so worried about us all they tried to educate an entire generation on the wild dangers posed by rugs on parquet floors, flying kites and refrigerators. The CoI didn’t restrict itself to talking down to children, but included their parents as well, in a series of minute-long films on a variety of safety topics.
