There’s a new public service announcement titled “Playthings” that’s been up on YouTube since Wednesday, and it just might be the greatest entry into the PSA canon since that one where Rachel Leigh Cook takes a frying pan to a kitchen because HEROIN.
It all starts out innocently enough, with one woman dropping by another’s house to pick up her son, who’s seen playing with the other boy inside. But when the kids scamper outside, the two moms’ jaws drop because oh my god the boys are playing with bright pink and purple dildos, presumably belonging to the ladies of the house.
Believe it or not, the PSA is aimed at promoting gun safety. “If they find it,” a narrator concludes, “they will play with it. So always lock up your guns.”
The spot comes to us from Evolve Together Inc., a group that favors responsible gun ownership and a sort of “we’re all in this together” mentality in approaching the issue of gun violence over the outright, unilateral banning of firearms. Adweek notes that the spot’s release is probably meant to tie into National Safety Month.
“Gun safety and the reduction of gun violence begin with every America,” Evolve’s website states. “We can all have more awareness, and then help promote, responsible choices that reduce gun accidents and violence. This conversation should be as common as discussing responsible drinking, or whether you baby-proof your house.”
While you could argue that the PSA unnecessarily draws on sex-negativity to make its point about responsible gun ownership (I may or may not have been thinking “THEY’RE JUST CURIOUS! OUR BODIES, OURSELVES!” while watching), you can’t deny that this kind of shock tactic will definitely get the nation talking. I mean, what are Americans more scared of than…
SEX!!!!!!!!!!!!
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