A taste from the past part 2: Vintage Public Health Ads!

A while ago, we had published a post presenting you with vintage public health posters which proved to be quite popular! It took me a while to have the idea to look for vintage public health videos and found some gems!

Keeping the “cough and sneezes spread diseases” theme, two very funny tv commercials teach one man to use a handkerchief  when sneezing. Once he has acquired this skill, he is then taught to disinfect the said handkerchief once it is used.

After the mister has learned some manners, he is allowed to go out and is taught the skill of crossing the road safely.

Apart from the funny references in drinking and unhealthy breakfast, what  also made me laugh was the fact that the actor was smoking twice during these ads. Times were different then, I know, but still quite funny to see, as nowadays smoking is banned from many places, including live television, at least in some countries.

Naturally, I *had* to find smoking ads from that time and that proved to be quite easy! I had seen printed versions of the “doctors smoke x brand of cigarettes” but never the video….In case you were not convinced, there is a second one, showing more doctors smoking.

These made me laugh and reminded me once more how much context plays a role in everything. Couldn’t help but wonder: what kind of things that are freely advertised nowadays could make us or our children laugh about a few decades later? What unhealthy habits that are prevalent now would be frowned upon in the future? Fast food? Sweetened drinks? TV? Let me know what you think!