Anyone who watched television in the 1990s will be familiar with the ‘Pizza for Dinner’ PSA which somehow managed to take a somber topic and make it unintentionally hilarious. However, it wasn’t the only public service announcement to wildly miss the mark back in the days.
TV was full of PSAs that tried to hide serious messages behind comedy, featured confusing premises or were so poorly executed that you couldn’t help but laugh. Let’s take a look at Pizza for Dinner and other ridiculous PSAs from the 1990s.
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3 ridiculous PSAs from the 1990s
Rob McElhenney stars in an anti-smoking PSA
PSA starts in the above video. Rob McElhenney was cast as the kid, but that’s not the headline here. This anti-smoking PSA is puzzling in so many ways. Firstly, what’s up with the Bang Bus-style start of the PSA with some dude holding a camera wanting to talk to a random person? And how is this school cool with some guy loitering on campus looking to film students?
In terms of messaging, there is none. As a teenager at the time, I saw the McElhenney anti-smoking PSA a few times every day. This spot did not resonate at all. If anything, it made you want to try smoking.
Crash Test Dummies make killing babies a joke
PSA starts in the above video. The Crash Test Dummies and the Pizza for Dinner PSA are weirdly juxtaposed. The latter is funny even though it is trying to be serious while these two Crash Test Dummies PSAs try to take a serious topic and go for laughs. This is why these PSAs are so ridiculous. Don’t get me wrong, they are entertaining as hell. It’s a bold move to try and make baby death humorous.
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Pizza for Dinner PSA
PSA starts in the above video. Look, domestic abuse is a serious issue. But the Pizza for Dinner PSA somehow makes the topic hilarious. It is hard to pinpoint specifically why the ad is so funny. From the bad acting to the over-the-top script, the 30-second spot still cracks people up to this day. Daddy does not want to have pizza for dinner.
No one in the history of mankind has ever been upset about coming home to pizza for dinner, not even the hot trash they peddle at Domino’s. Especially not a white, middle-class scumbag like the dad in this PSA is supposed to represent. Also, could they have picked a more comedic slap sound to use? The sound of this guy abusing his wife is suspiciously similar to the whip effect in Devo’s song Whip It. Seriously, listen to it for yourself.
