Hi, Folks!
I've been thinking about a terrifying ad from the early 1970s… it was a PSA about air pollution, and it went something like this:
A regular-looking middle-aged guy wearing regular-looking 20th clothes is in some kind of underground, THX-1138-like Dystopia. There's a voiceover talking about the dangers of air pollution. The regular-looking guy is dragged by gas-mask-wearing, uniformed goons before some kind of Nazi-like judge. The judge bangs his gavel, declares the guy guilty, and now the guy is TERRIFIED and REALLY struggling against the goons. The goons drag him down a hallway, and to judge by the change of light, it seems a big, sliding air-lock-like door has opened in front of him and the guy's TERROR increases exponentially as the goons shove him toward the door. CUT TO: The guy is outside, with a vista of (very real, not special effect) smokestacks behind him, and he's covering his mouth trying not to breathe, because the Nazi judge has sentenced him to * die by suffocation in the air pollution on the surface. * This was some heavy, heavy, stuff to see as a kid, and my local TV station played in the afternoons, when Astro-Boy and Prince Planet and Ultraman were on. It made a real impression.
If guys could help me track this down, I'd really appreciate it!
–Mike
This is just a wild stab in the dark, cuz this isn't a PSA, and I can't match most details, but this couldn't possibly be Spielberg's episode of The Name of the Game "LA 2017" from 1971? A copy appeared on youtube a couple months ago and I started it but fell asleep, and the upload seems to no longer exist. So I don't know how the story ends, but the first 20 minutes def reminded me of this post! Hopefully it shows back up again to be seen by the masses.