I'm glad to see that I wasn't the only one creeped out by Johnny Smoke. It got a point when I was a kid, I'd hide or flee the room. Funny thing is, my childhood memory of JS , he has red glowing eyes...and stares @ you!!
@MrNickolas924 times have changed, cigarette ads are banned, and the only smoking psa campaign up at the moment is truth, but it's are rare occurance to see it on tv, though there is a quit smoking ad circulating Indiana right now, it's quit smoking Indiana if you're interested.
Does anybody remember the anti-hate animated PSA where the guy gets more and more mad and then he blows up? Really creepy. Is that one anywhere on Youtube?
Does anybody remember the anti-hate animated PSA where the guy gets more and more mad and then he blows up? Really creepy. Is that one anywhere on Youtube?
@TVFREAKMAN Wow, nightmares, huh? I didn't have nightmares, but it scared the crap out of me. Frankly, even at 46 I can still see the guy marching toward me with that face, and it still gives me chills!
Creepy. Scary. Highly effective. Did it's job. I was a little kid then. And between Johnny Smoke, and John Paul John (drived a snow plow around his house, Where There's Smoke), and anti-LSD messages, and weirdo Peter Max posters, and Flower Hippies, etc. I was scared spit-less to smoke, dope, get stoned or drunk. I'm now 50, and glad it worked. Sadly, didn't work on my stupid 20 something kids.
boy i have been thinking about this commercial for years I was actually terrified of this commercial and I would get goosebumps when I would see it at night I would be afraid to go to sleep after seeing it. I just got chills watching it Now ! but in a good nostalgic way.
I recall this PSA vividly and fondly, but I can't say it ever influenced my decision to never take up smoking. I never made that connection, I just remember how the muted piano music, the supernatural female refrain and the overall haziness of the visuals made the hair on the back of my neck bristle. If this PSA really influenced so many people not to smoke, maybe we need some similar PSAs today warning kids about the heartbreaks and dangers of pre-maritial sex.
This aired well before my time, but a very cool and creepy PSA; James Earl Jones' narration adds just the right chilling touch. I remember another PSA that I believe was done by the same guys who animated this one, it was a pro-toothbrushing ad that Don Quixote tilting at windmills with a giant toothbrush! If anyone has a copy of this ad, please feel free to post it!
OMG! I remember this spot from way back when. I was probably six or seven years old when this was out. I totally agree with Spiritgumm...this IS a creepy ad, that woman singing "Johnny Smoke" makes it even more so.
Ha ha - when I was a kid I was hopelessly addicted, I spent all my lunch money on the stuff. Yeah my parents said all my teeth would fall out from candy cigarettes and bubble gum cards until I saw Johnny Smoke. Thanks to you Johnny I had fewer cavities and kept my teeth.
Where there is smoke there is a danger of heart disease. I guess it was more appropiate to say that than Tobacco is the Red Mans curse to the White Man an actual quote by Adolf Hitler. How does smoke alone cause Heart Disease? It doesn't, refined oils do. Back in the 50s cooking oil was pure, unrefined. You don't want to risk Heart Disease eat foods that are cooked in non refined cooking oil. Like Extra Virgin Olive Oil (hand pressed) there is a study on this online somewhere.
Lol! I thought I was the only one that as a kid was scared by this psa! Thank god there are others. I'm 44 now and this brings back so many memories. Classic.
zi saw this on the classic commercials volume two (it was packaged with a 6-0's cd my dad bought and then I saw it on tv commercials the ultimate collection. It scared me and i'm 19. Maybe it isn't scary, maybe it's just creepy.
This is one of the first things I remember seeing on TV as a kid. I'm so glad I'm not the only one who had nightmares from seeing this. This is the first time I've seen it in 43 years. wow! It still gives me the creeps, thank you for posting!
"... come a tall hard ridin' long lean BLOKE??" is that what he says??? But great Western...kind of like that Lorne Greene song "Ringo" as well, see it on youtube.
THis doesn't sound like James Earl's voice to me, either. Thurl Ravenwscroft, maybe..if deeper I'd say Candy Candido, who also did stuff voice this---both also worked ehavily for Disney! Matter of FACT----listen in the Anaheim Tiki Room [not at the Disney World Orlando] and you may just at least HEAR Thurlas one of the Tiki Birds, and maybe Candy [a male---HE's the DEPPER, FROOGIER one.
When I was four, my parents and I were driving back east on vacation in the Summer of 1969. They had to go somewhere for a few hours, and left me alone in the motel room to watch TV (an old b&w). I saw this commercial and I thought it was a blast...I couldn't have understood then that smoking leads to emphysema, lung cancer and eventual death...but this commercial and the visuals were so serious and cool (all animation was considered cartoons to a child), I remembered it well.
Johnny would be perfectly at home with the talking junk food of "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" on Adult Swim. I'd think he would have made a guest appearance by now.
@yaggazoozy -- So true. Instead we get crap like "If you smoke weed you'll run over a kid in a McDonald's drive-through" and "If you smoke weed you'll get raped at a party."
My goodness. I thought I was the only child afraid of this cartoon. LOL. Johnny Smoke is the main reason that I don't smoke. They need to put this commercial back on TV just the way it is.
When I was a kid (2-3ish) I thought this was a cartoon. Every time it came on I was rivited, but I switched to Bugs Bunny when ol' Johnny got too predictable.
@000266617 Do you have any proof whatsoever? Has anyone died from Secondhand Smoke that showed up on a death certificate under Cause of Death? If so send me a copy. If no then you have been lied to by the Liberals and the junk scientists.
We are all breaking You Tube rules by having an intelligent discussion without racial slurs or childish insults. We could get banned for this type of talk.
But this cartoon was great and should have returned because the tobacco company used "Joe Camel" and other things to sell cigerettes to kids (see the Flintstones ciggerette ad?) Good bye. Just had to add that.
I saw this when I was a kid, and today it still creeps me out somewhat. On top of the image of the dead cowboy, the spooky singer, the deep voice announcer, the lack of eyes probably added to it. Very effective, at least in making you remember it.
I hadn't seen this one since the 1960's. Ironically, the danger of heart disease drops soon after quitting, but cancer takes twenty years to develop. I remember (way back in 1962) when my father smoked Camels and my mother Salems. I figured I'dsmoke Winstons. Eventually, I did smoke Winstons, a few packs over my lifetime. I was 19 and too old to be hooked.
My father died of Hodgkins in 1964, when it was nearly incurable, and it's supposedly hereditary. I don't eat broccoli for the taste!
You know, I don't remember this ad, but if I had when I was a kid it probably would have scared me too. I'm curious to know what about it scares people. I don't find it scary as a 44 year old adult, but if I were a kid, I just might be scared by the deep voice, the mean look of Johnny Smoke, thye dead cowboy, and just the overall concept of the dangers of smoking. What is it about this ad that scares you folks that are scared of it? Just Curious!
@spy4863: Well, I can tell you what made it scary for me. As a 9 year old watching tv in the 60's, tobacco ads were all over the airwaves. Marlboro, which this psa goes aganst, were particularly cool and romantic with cowboy imagery and the theme from the Maginificent Seven. Imagine then, when this came on: First you see the lone bushes for what seemed to be forever, then the omnious music, the James Earl Jones voice and the scowling murderous J. Smoke. The letters were smokey and creepy too!
Scary, but brilliantly done on what was probably a tiny budget. DOn't know why, but the tobacco plant top center at the beginning still scares me, as the "When there's smoke/heart disease" message at the end. Heart disease? FRom Marboro's wow! Plus, the American Heart Association's animated torch adds the final touch of primitive creep factor.
Yeah! I totally agree! Thanks for replying! I remember the Marlboro ads-very vaguely. I remember the "Magnificent 7" theme. I remember several anti-smoking ads too, just not this particular one. I think that, since my dad smoked (and still does) just the thought of losing my dad to smoking was frightening enough! The music probably wouldn't have bothered me, but the image of the dead cowboy, Johnny Smoke's mean face, and James Earl Jones' deep, ominous voice probably would have!
000266617...don't forget...Johnny has a tendency to hang around with other bad characters, such as Crystal Mess, Herre Owen, and Cole Cane. These scoundrels make Mary Wanda look like a princess compared to the destruction they cause.
@whyobay: What would his motivation be for lying?
Sounds like you have an axe to grind. That said, please listen to this again. This time, close your eyes. Can you not imagine Darth Vader instead of Tony the Tiger?
@whyobay: Do you have ears! Do You you know octaves? Pitch? Style? Do you know inflection?
Thurl's voice was deeper. His intonation was altogether
different. Accent? Different. Plus, and this should put an end to this inanity, I have met and worked with James Earl Jones and he attributed himself to this commercial.
It was important that they do a commercial like this. Remember that ciggerette companies were spending millions in advertising to get children to smoke. This had to be done to run counter to that idea. There is Johnny standing over those cowboys, watching them die slowly. The sickie.
We should all be afraid of Johnny Smoke, the most fearer killer in the North and South, riding all over the world.
Jonny has a girlfriend, Mary Wanda, but she claims she is harmless and never killed anybody. She is considered a criminal by the sheriff who can never catch up with Johnny. Only finds dead bodies where he has been.
The tobacco drug must be banned now. Tobacco is addictive, defective and lethal, when used as intended. It has never been legal to poison people, no matter how slowly you do it, so the tobacco drug is ALREADY ILLEGAL!
I used to love this commercial when I was a kid. In NYC, they used to show it after To Tell The Truth (syndicated version w. Garry Moore) on channel 5, at night, though not every night, so I'd tune in to see it and was I pissed off the nights they didn't show it. I loved that music. Man, it was really boss! And Johnny was one mighty cool hombre.
I daresay it would be rather good to see this advert *back* on US telly again....if only for the sake of *very* timely public service concerns interspersed with a bit of nostalgia...
JEJ is a Master enunciator...listen how his 1st mention of JS is dramatically declarative. The 2nd time, accusatory, and the third? Contemptuous. This was the fllter on the cig.....smooooooth and delish....
"Johhhhhhhny Smoooooke, Johhhhhny Smooooke..." *SHUDDER* That chick's plaintive wail was killer...haven't seen this in nigh FORTY years. Camel non filters killed my dad....he was taken down by....JOHNNY SMOKE!
I just remembered this and went looking for it here tonight. I was 5 when this was on and it put the hook in me as well. I think they took the idea from the equally ominous song "Ghost Riders in the Sky." Whenever I heard it, I thought of this PSA.
I remember this one too. I think it played while we were watching cartoons. I wasn't scared of it, but it sure stuck in my head .Maybe they should air commercials like this again !
The voice is James Earl Jones, so Mr. Jones scared me crapless in this in 1968, then 9 years later in 1977, he scared me as Darth Vader. Glad he wasn't my dad... it would've been like, "SON, was it YOU who scratched the SIDE of the station wagon?
I like the idea of this ad. Its new of the 60s and it is creative how a tall cigarette is riding on a horse and being an outlaw of the world of smoking.
Never seen this one that i can remember anywhere except on YouTube, but I love it. Great parody of the Marlboro ads and the Camel ads with John Wayne talking like a tough cowboy. Ironically, in the 1960's, after he'd lost a lung and a couple of ribs to cancer he started doing commercials for The American Cancer Society! Coincidence?........I don't think so!!!
I find it unbelievable to see so many young people still puffing these cancer sticks, as they were called in the 60s. How many times can you tell someone this crap will kill you. Anyone smoking today is well aware of the danger of what they are doing and have no excuse when their lungs crystalize and no longer function.
That is so sweet. It just shows how much your father cared about then; I'm sure, even more so today.
I remember being very fascinated with this commercial. It really was a different time--smoking was everywhere. Both my parents smoked. When I'd watch tv, I used to sing along with the sexy "la-la-la-la-la-la" Bacharachesque/Casino Royale/"The Look of Love" backgrounds of the Benson & Hedges cigarette commercials when I was 4. I'd giggle when the man smashed his cigarette into his car window.
This PSA was airing on both network and local stations in the early summer of 1969 (especially when that "STAR TREK" repeat, "Is There in Truth..", aired in June '69,'Spirit').
I don't recall seeing a anti smoking ad within the last 3-4 months. If there is one, it's probably "sugar coated" so as not to offend anybody. What crap! Maybe they should bring this one back, or possibly revamp it for 2008. Either method, it does pack a powerful message. DON'T SMOKE!
I loved this commercial back when I was in junior high school. This was a super classic! This is when those anti smoking advertisements were really very good!
OH MY thanks for posting this. How I remember this as a kid. I thought it was so weird, it really kept my attention. So cheap that their wasn't any moving animation...and now I understand how the bass guitar was exposed to me.
40 years old, and I took only three puffs in my life. I call them curiosity puffs, a way to figure out what all the fuss about smokes was. May the Johnny Smoke story live forever!
Does anyone remember an equally scary spot, around the same era, where a woman goes into a restaurant and all the smokers flee as she puts on a gas mask and pets a skunk she's brought with her? Every bit as creepy ending with her humming in the cleared out restaurant.
This is one of the earliest TV memories I can remember. It scared the holy hell out of me. I was creeped out beyond scope when I saw it as a little kid. That cigarette with the bandit mask, the dead cowboy in a heap on the ground... geesh, it's a wonder no one turned this into a horror film. I stumbled across this while doing a mindless search & nearly freaked out. YouTube is closest to a time machine we have. Stay away from cigarettes riding horseback! Don't say you've not been warned.
I used to hide behind my dad's big chair. And scream until someone turned it off. I am 43 in May so I wonder how old I was. So weird to finally find it.
This used to scare the crap outta me when I was a kid, I actually used to have nightmares about him! When this came on I would jump up and change the channel as fast as I could (while not looking at the TV).
I'm glad to see that I wasn't the only one creeped out by Johnny Smoke. It got a point when I was a kid, I'd hide or flee the room. Funny thing is, my childhood memory of JS , he has red glowing eyes...and stares @ you!!
Artraccoon 2 weeks ago
Johnny Smoke is awesome
coolsomeXD 1 month ago in playlist Favorite videos
Im 12 and that is creepy but thats a good thing i think why dont they have commercials like that anymore?
MrNickolas924 2 months ago 2
@MrNickolas924 times have changed, cigarette ads are banned, and the only smoking psa campaign up at the moment is truth, but it's are rare occurance to see it on tv, though there is a quit smoking ad circulating Indiana right now, it's quit smoking Indiana if you're interested.
natedash11 4 days ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Does anybody remember the anti-hate animated PSA where the guy gets more and more mad and then he blows up? Really creepy. Is that one anywhere on Youtube?
casestudyification 4 months ago
Does anybody remember the anti-hate animated PSA where the guy gets more and more mad and then he blows up? Really creepy. Is that one anywhere on Youtube?
casestudyification 4 months ago
@casestudyification
OMG! I remember that one well. It gave me nightmares as a kid. I think it was from the Jewish anti-defamation league.
TVFREAKMAN 3 months ago
@TVFREAKMAN Wow, nightmares, huh? I didn't have nightmares, but it scared the crap out of me. Frankly, even at 46 I can still see the guy marching toward me with that face, and it still gives me chills!
casestudyification 3 months ago
Creepy. Scary. Highly effective. Did it's job. I was a little kid then. And between Johnny Smoke, and John Paul John (drived a snow plow around his house, Where There's Smoke), and anti-LSD messages, and weirdo Peter Max posters, and Flower Hippies, etc. I was scared spit-less to smoke, dope, get stoned or drunk. I'm now 50, and glad it worked. Sadly, didn't work on my stupid 20 something kids.
kevc21 4 months ago
Ain't it the truth!!!! Smokers are as much drug addicts as heroin users; the only difference? Tobacco kills more people and is legal!
When you addicts are dying at 40 don't cry to taxpayers to pay your expenses!
jimbritttn 4 months ago
Comment removed
jimbritttn 4 months ago
Damn! Johnny Smoke sounds like a total BADASS. It makes me want a cigarette.
AIgernon 4 months ago
boy i have been thinking about this commercial for years I was actually terrified of this commercial and I would get goosebumps when I would see it at night I would be afraid to go to sleep after seeing it. I just got chills watching it Now ! but in a good nostalgic way.
colejx78 4 months ago
I recall this PSA vividly and fondly, but I can't say it ever influenced my decision to never take up smoking. I never made that connection, I just remember how the muted piano music, the supernatural female refrain and the overall haziness of the visuals made the hair on the back of my neck bristle. If this PSA really influenced so many people not to smoke, maybe we need some similar PSAs today warning kids about the heartbreaks and dangers of pre-maritial sex.
65kowalski 4 months ago
This aired well before my time, but a very cool and creepy PSA; James Earl Jones' narration adds just the right chilling touch. I remember another PSA that I believe was done by the same guys who animated this one, it was a pro-toothbrushing ad that Don Quixote tilting at windmills with a giant toothbrush! If anyone has a copy of this ad, please feel free to post it!
DoctorPretorious616 6 months ago
This just makes smoking look really really cool.
coolsomeXD 8 months ago 2
another version??? do you remember what was in it?
sunkencheeks 8 months ago
I want a smoke.
macharius188 9 months ago
Sounds like the guy who did the grinch cartoon.
RiseOfTheNerd 9 months ago
OMG! I remember this spot from way back when. I was probably six or seven years old when this was out. I totally agree with Spiritgumm...this IS a creepy ad, that woman singing "Johnny Smoke" makes it even more so.
jerseyoldschool 10 months ago
Comment removed
monteoner 10 months ago
Ha ha - when I was a kid I was hopelessly addicted, I spent all my lunch money on the stuff. Yeah my parents said all my teeth would fall out from candy cigarettes and bubble gum cards until I saw Johnny Smoke. Thanks to you Johnny I had fewer cavities and kept my teeth.
fueledbylove 10 months ago
kinda sounds like thurl ravenscorft
Albekizan 10 months ago
Was that James Earl "Darth Vader" Jones doing the voiceover?
NickB1967 10 months ago
Did this inspire the song by the Butthole Surfers with the same title?
jolcom 10 months ago 2
He kills liberals and conservatives, feared by his friends and enemies alike! How many more will DIE!
stefonamus 11 months ago
johnny Smike kills f
stefonamus 11 months ago
Where there is smoke there is a danger of heart disease. I guess it was more appropiate to say that than Tobacco is the Red Mans curse to the White Man an actual quote by Adolf Hitler. How does smoke alone cause Heart Disease? It doesn't, refined oils do. Back in the 50s cooking oil was pure, unrefined. You don't want to risk Heart Disease eat foods that are cooked in non refined cooking oil. Like Extra Virgin Olive Oil (hand pressed) there is a study on this online somewhere.
willdav713 11 months ago
Lol! I thought I was the only one that as a kid was scared by this psa! Thank god there are others. I'm 44 now and this brings back so many memories. Classic.
superpapabear 1 year ago
I remember this one as a kid. What was scarier? The DIE on Johnny Smoke or that big fucking red heart with the torch through it at the end?
stefonamus 1 year ago
Lord Darth Vader did a commercial?! LOL!
draxx77 1 year ago
zi saw this on the classic commercials volume two (it was packaged with a 6-0's cd my dad bought and then I saw it on tv commercials the ultimate collection. It scared me and i'm 19. Maybe it isn't scary, maybe it's just creepy.
TaTgurl1003 1 year ago
It was freakish!! It was enuff 4 me 2 stop smoking.
madmax21000 1 year ago
This is one of the first things I remember seeing on TV as a kid. I'm so glad I'm not the only one who had nightmares from seeing this. This is the first time I've seen it in 43 years. wow! It still gives me the creeps, thank you for posting!
TVAMFM 1 year ago
"... come a tall hard ridin' long lean BLOKE??" is that what he says??? But great Western...kind of like that Lorne Greene song "Ringo" as well, see it on youtube.
raleighgranprix 1 year ago
This commercial scared me when I was a baby. :(
Quamlen 1 year ago
I have never smoked thanks to Johnny instilling the fear into me.
I had nightmares about this when I was a child, and it still gives me the chills!
Thanks Johnny!
moai1964 1 year ago 2
THis doesn't sound like James Earl's voice to me, either. Thurl Ravenwscroft, maybe..if deeper I'd say Candy Candido, who also did stuff voice this---both also worked ehavily for Disney! Matter of FACT----listen in the Anaheim Tiki Room [not at the Disney World Orlando] and you may just at least HEAR Thurlas one of the Tiki Birds, and maybe Candy [a male---HE's the DEPPER, FROOGIER one.
SteveCarras 1 year ago
This psa scared the devil out of me when it first came out.
dougputhoff 1 year ago
When I was four, my parents and I were driving back east on vacation in the Summer of 1969. They had to go somewhere for a few hours, and left me alone in the motel room to watch TV (an old b&w). I saw this commercial and I thought it was a blast...I couldn't have understood then that smoking leads to emphysema, lung cancer and eventual death...but this commercial and the visuals were so serious and cool (all animation was considered cartoons to a child), I remembered it well.
RichHartley19671 1 year ago
This glamourises 'Johnny Smoke' more than it demonizes him.
The unsettling look is like a no-budget Fantastic Planet.
SubmarinerAndroid 1 year ago 3
@SubmarinerAndroid
Johnny would be perfectly at home with the talking junk food of "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" on Adult Swim. I'd think he would have made a guest appearance by now.
Spiritgumm 1 year ago 7
Wow! Johnny Smoke is badass!!!
PufferBluntman 1 year ago
kinda makes me wanna smoke
psyborg303 1 year ago
This commercial scared me enough NOT to smoke. Too bad there is not the same creative psa commercials like this anymore.
yaggazoozy 1 year ago
@yaggazoozy -- So true. Instead we get crap like "If you smoke weed you'll run over a kid in a McDonald's drive-through" and "If you smoke weed you'll get raped at a party."
Nackles 1 year ago
My goodness. I thought I was the only child afraid of this cartoon. LOL. Johnny Smoke is the main reason that I don't smoke. They need to put this commercial back on TV just the way it is.
zvbx 1 year ago
I'm glad to find this. It used to haunt me as a kid. I had nightmares about that homicidal "cowboy." Thanks for posting.
rghartwig 1 year ago
@bigsexylova Nope, this is the only one.
draxx77 1 year ago
@bigsexylova
Liar! There was no other version!
draxx77 1 year ago
Darth Vader!
draxx77 1 year ago
Only appropriate PSA theme for a guy named Johnny Smoke.
Infernape7890 1 year ago
He's a mean one Mr. Grinch,oops!! I mean Johnny Smoke.
TheZepmeister 1 year ago
When I was a kid (2-3ish) I thought this was a cartoon. Every time it came on I was rivited, but I switched to Bugs Bunny when ol' Johnny got too predictable.
fekkinusername 1 year ago
Looks like Johnny doesn't mind killing kids. That fat smoking toddler and all those kids who inhale second hand smoke., I mean.
000266617 1 year ago
@000266617 Secondhand smoke kills no one, it is just an irritant, however the nanny liberals disagree with "junk science"
willdav713 11 months ago
@willdav713 If you breath the stuff, no matter where it comes from, you are harmed.
000266617 11 months ago
@000266617 Do you have any proof whatsoever? Has anyone died from Secondhand Smoke that showed up on a death certificate under Cause of Death? If so send me a copy. If no then you have been lied to by the Liberals and the junk scientists.
willdav713 11 months ago
@willdav713 My conclusions weren't based on liberals or scientists paid to lie.
000266617 11 months ago
I don't see what's so scary or what's suppost to be so scary about this? I'm missing on something here.
promon07 1 year ago
wow, vaguely remember this. pretty disturbing stuff.
epasurr 1 year ago
Isn't this Thurl Ravenscroft?
StormsongK 1 year ago
It makes we want a joint.
BaronTurco 1 year ago
This PSA used to scare me as a kid back in the mid-sixties.
dougdodge 1 year ago
Agreed. They should show this on today's TV
RadarKing 1 year ago
I agree with you Kazhool. That commercial scared the crap outta me as well
papabear724 1 year ago
We are all breaking You Tube rules by having an intelligent discussion without racial slurs or childish insults. We could get banned for this type of talk.
But this cartoon was great and should have returned because the tobacco company used "Joe Camel" and other things to sell cigerettes to kids (see the Flintstones ciggerette ad?) Good bye. Just had to add that.
000266617 1 year ago 4
And that background music is just sinister!
Mosux2007 1 year ago
"...how many more will DIE..!!!"
Haven't seen this since I was a kid, when it was on the air in the '60s. Like so many others, it scared the sh t out of me... yet also fascinated me.
Like picking @ a scab, I both feared and eagerly anticipated each viewing... especially later @ nite...
kazhool 1 year ago
I saw this thing when i was 5 and it gave me nightmares, , and still does! i think it's the lack of eyes that did it for me...
hellophotokitty 1 year ago
I saw this when I was a kid, and today it still creeps me out somewhat. On top of the image of the dead cowboy, the spooky singer, the deep voice announcer, the lack of eyes probably added to it. Very effective, at least in making you remember it.
edybeast 1 year ago
@bigsexylova this isn't JEJ. This guy's got an even better voice.
rdangelo 1 year ago
Cool. Anybody seen the PSA with the smoking cowboys..."we figured (cough) you'd be here...."???
ChrisC1 2 years ago
Vaguely. I think I saw it as a billboard some time ago, too.
edybeast 1 year ago
Was this James Earl Jones narrating?
NickB1967 2 years ago
The background music sounds very simiar to the intro of the Joanie Sommers hit "Johnny Get Angry".
Tuggle 2 years ago
since I never did what the Tv said to do in the first place, I never started smoking cigarettes.
I marvel at the sheep-people who do!
jasong19711 2 years ago
I remember this! I also remember one with Dave Brubeck's music.
yoshitoshi98 2 years ago
i'm more concerned about these sheep-people. the wondrous wonders of genetic technology.
stupidassism 2 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
if you genuinely want to stop smoking i fully recommend visiting trendycig . co . uk and use the half price code - HPT92009
samsam2021 2 years ago
Johnny is paid millions of dollars by ciggerette companies to kill people?
And they taught him how to kill ever since he was a little tobbacco leaf?
000266617 2 years ago
dude, johnny smokes a badass. if you smoke, youll vanquish all your enemies!
viciousKev 2 years ago
saw this when I was young circa 1969
frankd1965 2 years ago
I hadn't seen this one since the 1960's. Ironically, the danger of heart disease drops soon after quitting, but cancer takes twenty years to develop. I remember (way back in 1962) when my father smoked Camels and my mother Salems. I figured I'dsmoke Winstons. Eventually, I did smoke Winstons, a few packs over my lifetime. I was 19 and too old to be hooked.
My father died of Hodgkins in 1964, when it was nearly incurable, and it's supposedly hereditary. I don't eat broccoli for the taste!
BuddyNovinski 2 years ago
Donald trump's wife made a PSA. It was called Ivanna smoke. Ha ha get it I wanna smoke. Ha ha ha.~~~ Or in Mexican jajajaja.
Lvduggo69 2 years ago
You know, I don't remember this ad, but if I had when I was a kid it probably would have scared me too. I'm curious to know what about it scares people. I don't find it scary as a 44 year old adult, but if I were a kid, I just might be scared by the deep voice, the mean look of Johnny Smoke, thye dead cowboy, and just the overall concept of the dangers of smoking. What is it about this ad that scares you folks that are scared of it? Just Curious!
spy4863 2 years ago
@spy4863: Well, I can tell you what made it scary for me. As a 9 year old watching tv in the 60's, tobacco ads were all over the airwaves. Marlboro, which this psa goes aganst, were particularly cool and romantic with cowboy imagery and the theme from the Maginificent Seven. Imagine then, when this came on: First you see the lone bushes for what seemed to be forever, then the omnious music, the James Earl Jones voice and the scowling murderous J. Smoke. The letters were smokey and creepy too!
miltthepimp 2 years ago 2
Scary, but brilliantly done on what was probably a tiny budget. DOn't know why, but the tobacco plant top center at the beginning still scares me, as the "When there's smoke/heart disease" message at the end. Heart disease? FRom Marboro's wow! Plus, the American Heart Association's animated torch adds the final touch of primitive creep factor.
miltthepimp 2 years ago
Yeah! I totally agree! Thanks for replying! I remember the Marlboro ads-very vaguely. I remember the "Magnificent 7" theme. I remember several anti-smoking ads too, just not this particular one. I think that, since my dad smoked (and still does) just the thought of losing my dad to smoking was frightening enough! The music probably wouldn't have bothered me, but the image of the dead cowboy, Johnny Smoke's mean face, and James Earl Jones' deep, ominous voice probably would have!
spy4863 2 years ago
@spy4863 I saw it, too, when I was a kid, and it creeped me out for the reasons you mentioned.
edybeast 1 year ago
Same here. I never forgot that singing in the background. "Johnny Smoke! Johnny Smoke!"
Mosux2007 1 year ago
000266617...don't forget...Johnny has a tendency to hang around with other bad characters, such as Crystal Mess, Herre Owen, and Cole Cane. These scoundrels make Mary Wanda look like a princess compared to the destruction they cause.
02chevyguy 2 years ago 2
02chevy, Just thought that it makes sense to portray Crystal, Herre, Cole and Johnny as a bunch of psycho killers.
Sad thing is that in the end, they get away with murder leaving countless dead bodies behind.
They would argue that one is a bigger killer than the others. Johnny would say "Hey guys, we're all on the same team,"
000266617 2 years ago
That's a hell of a good idea. Would be a real attention getter.
edybeast 1 year ago
Note to 000266617:
Hear, hear!!
AGREED, m8!
I totally and wholeheartedly **concur!!**
BadNews88 2 years ago
@whyobay: What would his motivation be for lying?
Sounds like you have an axe to grind. That said, please listen to this again. This time, close your eyes. Can you not imagine Darth Vader instead of Tony the Tiger?
miltthepimp 2 years ago
@whyobay: Do you have ears! Do You you know octaves? Pitch? Style? Do you know inflection?
Thurl's voice was deeper. His intonation was altogether
different. Accent? Different. Plus, and this should put an end to this inanity, I have met and worked with James Earl Jones and he attributed himself to this commercial.
Now please, stop these posts.
miltthepimp 2 years ago
well, that's a far more considered response than your initial one --
James Earl Jones is a notorious liar...
whyobay 2 years ago
It was important that they do a commercial like this. Remember that ciggerette companies were spending millions in advertising to get children to smoke. This had to be done to run counter to that idea. There is Johnny standing over those cowboys, watching them die slowly. The sickie.
000266617 2 years ago
We should all be afraid of Johnny Smoke, the most fearer killer in the North and South, riding all over the world.
Jonny has a girlfriend, Mary Wanda, but she claims she is harmless and never killed anybody. She is considered a criminal by the sheriff who can never catch up with Johnny. Only finds dead bodies where he has been.
000266617 2 years ago
HOW MANY LIVES,YOU BASTARD?!:0
Chameleonardodavinci 2 years ago 2
I dont think I've seen this since the 1960's!
MrJetmechno1 2 years ago 2
JOHNNY SMOOOOOKE!
Ianprower 2 years ago
Johnny was different. Rather than kill them quick with a fast gun, the bastard watched them gasp and slowly die from lung cancer.
A sadistic killer, but no one could stop him. He was the grim reaper with a pack of ciggerettes.
000266617 2 years ago 10
lol, love the comment you made :-}
SexyBuilder1888 2 years ago
It makes me glad I quit smoking.Considering the commercial freaked me out when i was little.Scary,no?
madmax21000 2 years ago
I was 8 or 9 when this commercial used to run.. This spot left a big impression on me.
And James Earl Jones as the voice gives it even more gravity. Thank you so very much for posting!
miltthepimp 2 years ago
I don't think that's James Earl Jones. That voice sounds like Thurl ( Their grrrrrrrrrrrrreat! ) Ravenscroft , of Tony the tiger and Mr. Grinch fame.
daleboy72 2 years ago
It is absolutely, positively JEJ. Listen carefully.
miltthepimp 2 years ago
nope, it's Thurl....
whyobay 2 years ago
Comment removed
miltthepimp 2 years ago
This ad scared the heck out of me as a little kid...
ppasses 2 years ago 2
Now i know what i'm going to be for halloween this year. :)
Iron4343 2 years ago 3
If you do that, 98% of the people you meet won't get it.
ignoblius 2 years ago
More like 99.9% :)
Iron4343 2 years ago
Who cares if people get it or not? The costume itself would be brilliant! :)
miltthepimp 2 years ago
I guess I better lose some weight before Halloween ...Johnny is a pretty thin dude. :)
Iron4343 2 years ago
Yeah, you'd have to be Johnny Blunt... but that's a whole other PSA
:D
sligosky 2 years ago
Johnny Blunt :)
Iron4343 2 years ago
You have to have someone follow you arong and sing the "Johnny Smoke" song when you walk in the room.
ronnykmarshall 2 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
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goldenleon200 2 years ago
The voice over sounds like James Earl Jones.
sweetlilchickie1985 2 years ago
it is James Earl Jones
GerardFreeman 2 years ago
The tobacco drug must be banned now. Tobacco is addictive, defective and lethal, when used as intended. It has never been legal to poison people, no matter how slowly you do it, so the tobacco drug is ALREADY ILLEGAL!
tripjet999 2 years ago
Johnny Smoke would take out any gang banger like he was a piece of gum on the sidewalk.
NEVER TEST JOHNNY SMOKE!
buzzcunt 2 years ago
I used to love this commercial when I was a kid. In NYC, they used to show it after To Tell The Truth (syndicated version w. Garry Moore) on channel 5, at night, though not every night, so I'd tune in to see it and was I pissed off the nights they didn't show it. I loved that music. Man, it was really boss! And Johnny was one mighty cool hombre.
RRaquello 2 years ago 2
I daresay it would be rather good to see this advert *back* on US telly again....if only for the sake of *very* timely public service concerns interspersed with a bit of nostalgia...
Thanx fer this classic, m8....
BadNews88 2 years ago
WTF!!!!!!! LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
lamboman32 2 years ago
Johnny Smoke needs to choke. Yeah, I remember this one. Eerie. The use of storyboards over actual animation was doen for Disney's "Baby Weems"
in 1941's "Reluctant Dragon", which btw was the studio's very first live-action
film.
SteveCarras 2 years ago
Johnny Smoke is Jesse James in a paper wrapper! A baaaaaaaaad mutha
jonbcaliman 2 years ago
Johnny Smoke...you son of a bitch!
Duvmasta 2 years ago
I remember this one too when I was 4 or 5. I don't know which one was scarier-the cigarette Johnny Smoke or the anti-smoking message.
Johnny does look scary with that scowl on his cigarette face!
arrow66 2 years ago
Ah ha ha ha ha! I remember this when I was a kid. You Tube is the best!
This popped into my head this morning while I was eating breakfast and what do you know - You Tube had it.
hootinouts 2 years ago
Most cowboys carry 6 shooters...But Johnny Smoke always carires a 20 shooter...lol
BobTheWad 2 years ago
JEJ is a Master enunciator...listen how his 1st mention of JS is dramatically declarative. The 2nd time, accusatory, and the third? Contemptuous. This was the fllter on the cig.....smooooooth and delish....
jonbcaliman 2 years ago
"Johhhhhhhny Smoooooke, Johhhhhny Smooooke..." *SHUDDER* That chick's plaintive wail was killer...haven't seen this in nigh FORTY years. Camel non filters killed my dad....he was taken down by....JOHNNY SMOKE!
jonbcaliman 2 years ago
Sorry about your Dad, man. Johnny got mine too.
pazzensutra 2 years ago
Yeah that voice is so creepy. I used to get my mom's ciggarettes and tape them on my toy horse and sing that song.
Yeah, I was a crazy fucking kid.
ronnykmarshall 2 years ago
You ARE fucked up! LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
jonbcaliman 2 years ago
Ain't that true???
ronnykmarshall 2 years ago
I never saw this when I was a kid, but I could see this one scaring me.
pazzensutra 2 years ago
I just remembered this and went looking for it here tonight. I was 5 when this was on and it put the hook in me as well. I think they took the idea from the equally ominous song "Ghost Riders in the Sky." Whenever I heard it, I thought of this PSA.
kegbot1 2 years ago
I remember this one too. I think it played while we were watching cartoons. I wasn't scared of it, but it sure stuck in my head .Maybe they should air commercials like this again !
DEMOWAGON 3 years ago
Johnny Smoke used to scare the hell out of me when I was a little kid.
cubear 3 years ago 2
Comment removed
andredupuy 2 years ago
The voice is James Earl Jones, so Mr. Jones scared me crapless in this in 1968, then 9 years later in 1977, he scared me as Darth Vader. Glad he wasn't my dad... it would've been like, "SON, was it YOU who scratched the SIDE of the station wagon?
selatik1 3 years ago 5
Wow, I never realized that it was James Earl Jones until you pointed it out. Once you know it, it seems obvious.
uccomic 2 years ago 2
Yep, he has an amazing voice. Perhaps it was on the merit of this PSA that Lucas hired Jones for Darth Vader's voice. At least it's possible.
selatik1 2 years ago
So happy to see this back, it disappeared for a while. It's awesome and a great memory from my childhood. Great message!
Cyrusl99 3 years ago
I like the idea of this ad. Its new of the 60s and it is creative how a tall cigarette is riding on a horse and being an outlaw of the world of smoking.
so...DONT SMOKE!!!
moviedudeinc 3 years ago
Never seen this one that i can remember anywhere except on YouTube, but I love it. Great parody of the Marlboro ads and the Camel ads with John Wayne talking like a tough cowboy. Ironically, in the 1960's, after he'd lost a lung and a couple of ribs to cancer he started doing commercials for The American Cancer Society! Coincidence?........I don't think so!!!
spy4863 3 years ago
I find it unbelievable to see so many young people still puffing these cancer sticks, as they were called in the 60s. How many times can you tell someone this crap will kill you. Anyone smoking today is well aware of the danger of what they are doing and have no excuse when their lungs crystalize and no longer function.
SgtRock57 3 years ago 3
I got my grandmother to stop smoking for awhile when I was really young.
vladtheimpaler15th 3 years ago
I was around 6 or so and I would cry when it came on. My Dad quit smoking because I was so upset by it.
Cherisey1 3 years ago 6
That is so sweet. It just shows how much your father cared about then; I'm sure, even more so today.
I remember being very fascinated with this commercial. It really was a different time--smoking was everywhere. Both my parents smoked. When I'd watch tv, I used to sing along with the sexy "la-la-la-la-la-la" Bacharachesque/Casino Royale/"The Look of Love" backgrounds of the Benson & Hedges cigarette commercials when I was 4. I'd giggle when the man smashed his cigarette into his car window.
1959AverellHarriman 3 years ago
Finally someone posted this classic! (can't believe it's been up on youtube for a year and i'm just getting to it now...). Thank you!
troubleclef 3 years ago
This is one of the ones I always remembered from when I was a child in the late 60s.
chardtomp 3 years ago 3
Makes me want to take up smoking.
bradleyikb5 3 years ago
This PSA was airing on both network and local stations in the early summer of 1969 (especially when that "STAR TREK" repeat, "Is There in Truth..", aired in June '69,'Spirit').
fromthesidelines 3 years ago
Johnny Smoke is so huuuuge...
Johnny is a living joint!!! oO!
56kler 3 years ago
This commercial scared the living daylights out of me when I was a little girl. Thanks for posting it.
weemallard 3 years ago 2
I don't recall seeing a anti smoking ad within the last 3-4 months. If there is one, it's probably "sugar coated" so as not to offend anybody. What crap! Maybe they should bring this one back, or possibly revamp it for 2008. Either method, it does pack a powerful message. DON'T SMOKE!
buckinmo 3 years ago
Johnny Smoke, you son of a bitch!
Duvmasta 3 years ago
I was about 5 when this came out....Way ahead of its time......Cool
vincenzosupernova 3 years ago
I loved this commercial back when I was in junior high school. This was a super classic! This is when those anti smoking advertisements were really very good!
fairnorth 3 years ago
OH MY thanks for posting this. How I remember this as a kid. I thought it was so weird, it really kept my attention. So cheap that their wasn't any moving animation...and now I understand how the bass guitar was exposed to me.
LastTree 3 years ago
If ever there was a *CLASSIC* TV public service announcement that was worthy of SOME kind of award (Kinda like the CLIO'S) -- THIS was it!!
Thanks for the memories..
And mebbe they SHOULD bring this BACK to regular broadcast television! They need it now more than ever...
BadNews88 3 years ago 4
I totally remember this ad from Saturday mornings when I was a kid. And I also remember the "skunk" spot mentioned below.
Another classic that will hopefully find its way to youtube one day.
hanksr 3 years ago
40 years old, and I took only three puffs in my life. I call them curiosity puffs, a way to figure out what all the fuss about smokes was. May the Johnny Smoke story live forever!
AllRequired 3 years ago
Does anyone remember an equally scary spot, around the same era, where a woman goes into a restaurant and all the smokers flee as she puts on a gas mask and pets a skunk she's brought with her? Every bit as creepy ending with her humming in the cleared out restaurant.
uccomic 3 years ago
Amazing we all remember this commercial I'm 46 and I have thought aobut it over the years,thanks for a more vivid memory.
asuitt 3 years ago 2
And Me. I am 45 and have to admit that there are times when I find myself mindlessly humming this song when driving home from work.
YIKES.
They say great advertising doesn't stay with you.
hanksr 3 years ago 3
This is one of the earliest TV memories I can remember. It scared the holy hell out of me. I was creeped out beyond scope when I saw it as a little kid. That cigarette with the bandit mask, the dead cowboy in a heap on the ground... geesh, it's a wonder no one turned this into a horror film. I stumbled across this while doing a mindless search & nearly freaked out. YouTube is closest to a time machine we have. Stay away from cigarettes riding horseback! Don't say you've not been warned.
clockworktim 3 years ago 4
I used to hide behind my dad's big chair. And scream until someone turned it off. I am 43 in May so I wonder how old I was. So weird to finally find it.
ptomsky 3 years ago
Same here! This ad scare me to death.
arik1928 3 years ago
I'm 43 years old and I remember this commercial scaring the crap out of me too!!!
stevempd236 3 years ago 3
OMG!
This used to scare the crap outta me when I was a kid, I actually used to have nightmares about him! When this came on I would jump up and change the channel as fast as I could (while not looking at the TV).
nycgringo 3 years ago 2
me too...
29psalm 3 years ago