Aha! I finally found it! Picture yourself a kid in the
It scared the hell out of me at first sight. And not only do you begin to see this commercial all the time; you don't know when and if it will show up in a commercial break thereafter.
I began to fear commercial breaks. They showed it on Saturday morning TV, afternoon movies, Star Trek reruns. I had nightmares about this gaunt kid coming after me. I would turn away from the TV on commercial breaks and fear the stab of creepy music.
Mike R.
Thanks Mike! I love a good old fashioned commercial traumafession! It's been too long! I don't remember this ad but I do remember Joanna Cassidy ripping off her face to become Smokey The Bear…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-izxXJgnuQ
Here's a traumafession from way back in 2010!
https://www.kindertrauma.com/traumafessions-reader-laura-t-j-on-smokey-the-bear/
The link has some extraneous percentage signs that might give folks problems. Here's the link without them:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d0q3LLh8VU
The video quality of this old seat belt PSA is pretty much garbage, but it traum'd me when I was a wee lad; the weird sound effect for the transitions would trigger a response in me once I was finally old enough to watch The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
And of course I almost immediately after posting find it in better quality:
Hey Thanks for the link, Grokenstein. The original was not working for me and you saved me some hassle.
Boy that ad was grim! At least it went from skinny and starved to healthy and not the other way around.
Thanks for for the creepy additions, everyone. I remember this one the most since I got blindsided by it so much during the most lighthearted and cheerful fare