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Vice Blog

PUBLIC SERVICE ADVERT - THAT'S SO GAY

Have you seen the public service ads encouraging American teens to stop using the word gay as a put-down? Thinkb4youspeak.com enlisted people like Hillary Duff and Wanda Sykes to tell the youth that it's not OK to say "That's so gay." Action was deemed necessary after the National School Climate Survey found that 90% of gay teens had heard the phrase…

Whatever you think about the ads, it's clear that talking to teens is done differently in America than in Ireland, where they take a different tack. The Irish firmly believe the most effective way to communicate with young people is by terrifying them into behaving themselves with visions of hellfire, guilt and eternal damnation, as this road safety ad shows.

Ireland - "The faster the speed, the bigger the mess"

The Irish version of the "That's so gay" advert would probably see a bullied lesbian one day going berserk and exacting revenge on her taunters by barricading them in the chemistry lab and setting it ablaze, laughing hysterically while they scream and burn to death. Maybe. I'd personally like to see a return to the UK's horror-themed ads of the 1970s, back when kids wore snorkel parkas and mainly played out in woods and in the local high-voltage electricity sub-station.

England - "The spirit of dark and lonely water"