Hate Hurts You (found original full animated anti-hate PSA; 1974)

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Hate.png

Screenshot from the PSA.

Status: Found

Date found: 10 Aug 2023

Found by: Delchi

Hate Hurts You was a 30-second anti-hate PSA by the Jewish Chautauqua Society. It first aired around 1974.[1]

The ad was infamous for its terrifying nature with the depiction of an angry man getting closer to the screen as his head swells and turns red, along with a haunting voice-over and music, which reportedly terrified children. So 8 years later, in 1982, The Jewish Chautauqua Society aired a shorter, less scary version of the PSA.

Description

In the ad, an angry cartoon man walks from a distance towards the screen. A window appears in his chest showing his hateful heart, represented by a swastika-like pinwheel that twirls around and sends particles into his head, which inflates and reddens with each step. The animation is accompanied by a minor-key folk rock song in which a male voice sings "Hate! Is a poison that corrodes, an acid that erodes, your body, mind and soul! And when you hate, who do you hurt the most? Hate hurts you!" Immediately afterwards, a drumroll sounds as the cartoon man gets extremely close to the camera before his head pops like a balloon. The voiceover then repeats the lyric "Hate hurts YOU!" in a firm tone as the logo for the Jewish Chautauqua Society appears; the song then ends with a closing guitar riff.

The 1982 version of the ad is similar to the original, reusing the animation, and features the same actor providing the voiceover. However, several differences exist from the 1974 iteration. The 1982 version begins with the man's hateful heart already visible, the song is faster, shorter, and features a prominent drum machine (with the guitar part being more minimal and placed low in the audio mix), and the lyrics are substantially truncated, reading "When you hate, who do you hurt the most? Hate hurts YOU!" The animation is also faster to account for the increased tempo and decreased length, and the man's head pops in time with the final line (delivered in a milder tone of voice than the 1974 version) instead of just before it.

Availability

Due to audiences finding the PSA unsettling, it was shortly pulled off the air, although it's been claimed it might have re-aired up until the early 1980s according to the comments of the ad's YouTube upload.

On March 10th, 2023, Reddit user Delchi came forth on the Lost Media Wiki subreddit claiming they were close to receiving what they were sure was a copy of the 30-second version of the PSA.[2] Later, on April 2nd, Delchi claimed they had successfully acquired a copy of the longer version, and would release it online after they converted the 16mm reel to digital formats. This wouldn't come to fruition until Delchi posted the full 30-second version of the PSA on August 10th, 2023.[3]

Gallery

The shortened version of the PSA that was aired in 1982.

The original full version that was aired in 1974.

References