The films advised the public on what to do in a multitude of situations ranging from crossing the road to surviving a nuclear attack. They are sometimes thought to concern only topics related to safety, but there are PIFs on many other subjects, including animal cruelty, protecting the environment, crime prevention and how to vote in an election or fill in a census form.
Many of these films were aimed at children and were shown during breaks in children's programs during holidays and at weekends. The general low-budget quality and the infamous static "crackle" before them gave them a Hammer Horror style aura. Some of them were quite terrifying and remained ingrained in the child's psyche well into adulthood, others were quite humourous and used comedy to show the dangers or ridicule the folly of those who ignore them (Jo and Petunia are a good example of a comic PIF). Many of them involved or were narrated by celebrities of the day.
The earliest PIFs were made during the Second World War years and shown in cinemas; many were made by and starred Richard Massingham, an amateur actor who set up Public Relationship Films Ltd when he discovered there was no specialist film company in the area. They were commissioned by the Ministry of Information. After the war PIFs were produced for the Central Office of Information, and again by private contractors which were usually small film companies, such as Richard Taylor Cartoons.
They are still being produced although they are rarely shown in the same frequency as their peak in the 1970s. Some believe modern PIFs are not as hard-hitting as they should be and have suffered due to political correctness. If the messages are not hard-hitting enough then the message can be lost considering older PIFs aimed at children (and adults) relied quite strongly on "scaring them straight" and the message remained with a child right through into adulthood, although recent drink-driving and anti -smoking PIFs have bucked this trend.
Some advertisements and charity appeals have gained the status of honorary PIF among fans, including Cartoon Boy, a 2002 campaign about child abuse produced by the NSPCC, and a 1980s British Gas advertisement about what to do in the event of a gas leak.
PIF's have a nostalgic cult following and a DVD was released in 2001 called Charley Says: The Greatest Public Information Films in the World, comprising the contents of two earlier VHS releases. A sequel was released in 2005.
Although many of these films are aimed at & feature children, many don't. I've got a load of these & would be prepared to make an 'FLM edit' containing those of suitable material. Before giving myself lots of editing work I'd like to gauge what interest there is.
Two short films as a sample:-
Teach Them To Swim
Play Safe
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