Flavorwire

As our friends at Open Culture recently pointed out, the heyday of the public service announcement has passed. The Internet is our new gateway for learning about social issues — once you sort through all the false information, of course. When we saw a cheeky anti-smoking PSA from John Waters, we got a hankering for more vintage awareness videos with a bizarre twist. Go henceforth to see what the Pope of Trash had to say about cigarettes, and enjoy other PSAs that mesmerize with their well-intentioned weirdness.

John Waters

California’s Nuart Theatre gave John Waters’ first successful feature, Pink Flamingos, a lot of love during its initial release. As a thank you, he created this anti-smoking PSA, while smoking. He takes a few long drags off his cigarette and encourages people to smoke anyway. “It gives ushers jobs,” he deadpans.