Public Enemy Number One - Keep Britain Tidy COI 1968

Throughout 1968 this COI was shown on British TV ad nauseam. The guy in the hat/trenchcoat is well-known comedian and actor Roy Hudd. Neither the opening caption nor the canned laughter were present on the original transmissions.

Although looking tame now, given the fashion for espionage thrillers at that time, this little gem was very appropriate and maybe quite effective in achieving its aim. Who can tell?

We kids loved it certainly...

But apologies for the poor quality. No matter how many times I encoded this clip (with various settings) it still came out with all those horrid motion artefacts. Ho hum ;-)

Category:

Education

Tags:

• public
• enemy
• number
• one
• keep
• britain
• tidy
• uk
• tv
• information
• film
• 1968
• roy
• hudd

[Oldbrookster]

Great ad and I remember being slightly scared of what might happen if I didn't use the litter bins. Only on Friday did I see a guy throwing his McRubbish out of the car window right in front of me. The crap (and there was plenty of it) went all over the road and blew into the fields and bushes along the roadside. This is too common these days. Maybe a "Number 10 petition" would be a good way to while away my afternoon.

[cytolitic]

If you hadn't used litter bins you would have been pursued by a crowd of dollies in white minis, wrestled to the ground and given 'a damn good seeing-to' for being such a bad boy :-)

[loganswell]

The authorities seemed to care more back in those erstwhile days about issues such as litter throwing and things like that. Seems to me that we could bring back public information films to be slotted in with the plethora of commercials that go out nowadays. Who pays? Easy. Just as businesses in a shopping mall club together to pay for the 'free parking' the companies who advertise on TV commercials should club together to pay for the transmission of films like this.

[cytolitic]

I agree with all you say.

[Amandamoo73]

this used to get shown in the 70s,and for some weird reason i was terrified of Roy hudd in his hat and coat and the music on this ad(the first shot was enough to have me hide behind the couch with my ears blocked!).fast forward 34years down the line and im baffled as to why i feared it!

[48trixie]

What's the tune called as I've heard it somewhere else

[factualfilms]

Directed by Keith Ewart

[ddwarwick]

@Oldbrookster what's actually so bad about littering though? I mean it's not as though it does any real harm, it just happens to offend you!

[tishhope]

Ah, this is filmed on the Alton Estate in Roehampton...

[atreewithnolife]

god was it that long ago!!