Pig demon child abuse PSA from Brazil (late 1990s)
Jun 20, 2022 20:51:54 GMT
dycaite and pinkasketch like this
Post by Automaton on Jun 20, 2022 20:51:54 GMT
In January this year, a Reddit user posted to r/lostmedia about a strange PSA they saw on YouTube in the early 2010s. However, whilst interesting in its own right, there's very little evidence to go on for now. What really caught my attention was the top comment, describing a similar (though probably unrelated) PSA that aired in Brazil during the late 1990s.
u/kenubinin said:
Another user, u/TheOther36, commented to say they'd seen the same PSA in Rio de Janeiro (presumably around the same time). The original commenter replied, saying:
I was really intrigued by this, but despite extensive searching I was unable to find anything useful. I should add that I'm not from Brazil and I don't speak Portuguese, so I can't deny that there's a bit of a language barrier on this one. I'd kinda given up hope that I'd ever hear anything new... until yesterday.
A user joined the Lost Commercials Foundation server and posted the following:
I shared the existing Reddit links with the user in question, who said that their mom was also from Rio de Janeiro. This dates the PSA to pre-1997 (when the witness moved to the United States) and was only seen on TV Cultura after 9 PM. She saw the ad 3 or 4 times, and distinctly remembers the pig-father squealing as he turned to face his son. The text at the end was in Portuguese. 1994-1998 was also given as a possible timeframe.
As for who made the PSA, not much is known. UNICEF and Secom (a government information agency) have been suggested, but so far this is pure speculation.It's also possible that this ad was local to Rio, but I don't currently know where the initial sighting was located. On 21/06/22 I received a message from this user confirming the location of their sighting. They saw the ad in northern Minas Gerais.
That's pretty much all I have on this, but its existence has now been corroborated by three people. I should stress that I don't think the "Key to Heaven" PSA (if it was a PSA at all) mentioned in the original post is related to this ad at all, because the OP describes English text and a much more modern visual style.
This PSA is not related to Fragile Childhood's "Monsters" ad or this PIF from the UK's "Stop it Now!" - though neither are dissimilar in concept.
UPDATE 22/06/22: I have received further information that the same campaign, or at least a very similar one, was ongoing in the mid-2000s. There were PSAs featuring monsters on a number of topics other than child abuse, including safe driving and anti-smoking.
Somebody close to the OP claims to have been working at a day care centre between 2005 and 2008, during which time they watched afternoon educational programming with the children. These commercials likely appeared on Futura, TV Cultura, and possibly Bandeirantes (though the former two are apparently more closely associated with educational content)
This witness also remembers a PSA similar to the one in the original comment, in which you can see the shadow of the adult turning into a monster holding the child's hand. It was also set at a bus stop, and the message at the end was "child abuse is a CRIME".
In the meantime, I have been in contact with a Brazilian TV historian named Fabio Marckezini. Unfortunately he doesn't recognise this PSA, but has retweeted a link to this thread and said he will ask fellow archivists if they know anything more!
u/kenubinin said:
I actually saw a very similar PSA back in the late 90's. It was very very similar, but I'm from Brazil so I don't know if it was made by the same company/studio. The one I watched has this boy and his dad, and they're waiting on a bus station. The kid is eating a cotton candy while his dad is smoking a cigarette very close to him as they're holding hands, then the next cut we can see the smoke going from the cigarrete to the kid's candy cotton, the boy tries to get away but the dad keep pushing him. Then I vaguely remember a slow motion scene with passerbys ignoring the child's sorrowful look as they walk by the bus station. He also tries to scream but he has no voice, and for that no one can hear him asking for help. After that, the camera shows them standing on the bus station just like the beginning, but the dad has turned into this very weird pig-like human devil creature, and the boy didn't seem to be scary at all, just very bothered and sad. I remember his dad's skin had turned red and the head was like the head of a warthog, but his body still human. Then it cuts to a black screen with a text saying "Don't abuse childen." then the text change to "If they don't have a voice, speak for them. Report child abuse". It was very bizarre and it still haunting me to this day. I saw it on elementary school twice, but never saw it again.
Another user, u/TheOther36, commented to say they'd seen the same PSA in Rio de Janeiro (presumably around the same time). The original commenter replied, saying:
Dude, I'm pretty sure it was on Tv Cultura or Bandeirantes, can't put my finger on it tho
I was really intrigued by this, but despite extensive searching I was unable to find anything useful. I should add that I'm not from Brazil and I don't speak Portuguese, so I can't deny that there's a bit of a language barrier on this one. I'd kinda given up hope that I'd ever hear anything new... until yesterday.
A user joined the Lost Commercials Foundation server and posted the following:
hi! i have a very odd... request? mystery? idk lol. my mãe (mom) is from Brazil (i'm from the USA) and she said that, in the 90's, there was a PSA that was horrific and creepy. it was against child abuse, and basically there was a kid whose dad was a demon-pig thing at a bus stop. she swears she is not crazy, but i have not been able to find it anywhere... anyone have any ideas? has anyone heard anything about it?
I shared the existing Reddit links with the user in question, who said that their mom was also from Rio de Janeiro. This dates the PSA to pre-1997 (when the witness moved to the United States) and was only seen on TV Cultura after 9 PM. She saw the ad 3 or 4 times, and distinctly remembers the pig-father squealing as he turned to face his son. The text at the end was in Portuguese. 1994-1998 was also given as a possible timeframe.
As for who made the PSA, not much is known. UNICEF and Secom (a government information agency) have been suggested, but so far this is pure speculation.
That's pretty much all I have on this, but its existence has now been corroborated by three people. I should stress that I don't think the "Key to Heaven" PSA (if it was a PSA at all) mentioned in the original post is related to this ad at all, because the OP describes English text and a much more modern visual style.
This PSA is not related to Fragile Childhood's "Monsters" ad or this PIF from the UK's "Stop it Now!" - though neither are dissimilar in concept.
UPDATE 22/06/22: I have received further information that the same campaign, or at least a very similar one, was ongoing in the mid-2000s. There were PSAs featuring monsters on a number of topics other than child abuse, including safe driving and anti-smoking.
Somebody close to the OP claims to have been working at a day care centre between 2005 and 2008, during which time they watched afternoon educational programming with the children. These commercials likely appeared on Futura, TV Cultura, and possibly Bandeirantes (though the former two are apparently more closely associated with educational content)
This witness also remembers a PSA similar to the one in the original comment, in which you can see the shadow of the adult turning into a monster holding the child's hand. It was also set at a bus stop, and the message at the end was "child abuse is a CRIME".
In the meantime, I have been in contact with a Brazilian TV historian named Fabio Marckezini. Unfortunately he doesn't recognise this PSA, but has retweeted a link to this thread and said he will ask fellow archivists if they know anything more!
