Behind the Painted Smile

This is the BUAV (and Judi Dench) versus animal testing in 1989, and there's no point in describing this, you just have to let it unfold. Disturbing charity ad (ie PIF for special interests) against animal testing, which uses the time-honoured technique of ending with a black screen and the name of the organisation in lieu of a slogan, which has the effect of leaving the viewer feeling a bit lost by denying him the closure he was subconsciously expecting. No, really, that's how it works.

Originally from Jean-Thingy Wossname's AdEaters site, before he took the library down like a great big French pillock. I know it says 1993, but that thing was wrong on more than one video; far as I can tell, it's actually from 1989. K? K.

There's an alternative version - the TV version - that has a sort of ambient soundtrack instead of "Smile" which continues under the scream and the final shot. It was created simply to save on the royalties, but it also has a sort of mental digestive effect: making it slightly easier to stomach. I prefer the rawer version. You can see it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Brx2ipfmDec.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• BUAV
• Vivisection
• cosmetics
• 1987
• advert
• commercial
• smile
• makeup
• despair
• hell
• scream
• nutmeg

[chaoreturnsforgood76]

Applemask is this uploaded YT video an MPEG file from the Night of the AdEaters archive site?

[Applemask]

@chaoreturnsforgood76 Yes. Please note I uploaded it...wow, four and a quarter years ago? Holy Christ. Anyway they don't have that thing up anymore.

[ejames3000]

Is there a specific name for the dappled grey backdrop / lighting effect that proved so popular in ads PIFs at the turn of the 90s? It's used also in brilliant ad for the Samaritans in which every time an attractive young woman opens her mouth to speak, all that comes out are shards of hideous, Merzbowesque white noise. Powerful stuff. And, yes, my index of childhood nightmares confirms that this is definitely earlier than 1993.

[Applemask]

@ejames3000 I'd have uploaded that Samartians add (which has more of a corridor feel to it, I reckon), but EASportsBig99 or whatever number it is has uploaded it already.

[EricakaJaceII]

You know what's weird? This PIF hasen't aged...at all...not in subject, nor in content. The girl being used doesn't even look like the typical 80's woman they'd usually cast for a main role such as this (I don't mean this in a bad way at all). I honestly thought before knowing this was 1987 that this was made way sooner.

Anyway, very nice and creepy PIF here. Plus, I'm totally agree with the messages behind it. That said, I also strongly agree with Diablow187! XD

[Diablow187]

The scream blew my fucking mind!

[jullydoune]

enfin une pub inteligente

[Lazyguy22]

So the message of this PIF is "Support animal testing so humans don't have to have this happen to them".

Maybe that's jusy me being confrontational. And I'll tell you another thing about Communists...

[PIFMan092]

@ejames3000 I think what most likely happened is that some ad agencies would offer to make an ad for a charity free of charge, hence they would most likely use a minimalist approach as opposed to spending massive amounts of money on a particular location. This would've most likely have been filmed in a photography studio somewhere, which would explain the grey backdrop.

[PIFMan092]

There was another version of this PIF which used a generic synthesizer library track, presumably so that the ad agency could avoid having to pay for royalties each time the ad made an appearance on TV or at festivals.

[vgman94]

... Vivisection is evil....

[iceskater1]

@talialittle1 there are methods of testing on CELL CULTURES instead of animals. They are more accurate than animal testing.