https://www.nspcc.org.uk

One of the greatest, most disturbing and most controversial Public Information Films ever made.

An infamous NSPCC Public Information Film from 1999. In which, we see various childhood icons, which include (in order of appearance) a teddy bear, God himself, Rupert the bear, Action Man and the Spice Girls. All of those childhood icons have their eyes covered, whilst in the background, we hear various types of abuse taking place. It's absolutely horrifying and almost 25 years later, it has rightfully been cemented as one of the greatest Public Information Films of all time. Full stop. If I ever redo my PIFs countdown again in the future, best believe that this PIF will be there near the top.

Adding some further context, "Can't Look" was the launch PIF for the NSPCC's Full Stop campaign, first aired on March 15th, 1999. The PIF was greeted with almost immediate public backlash. The PIF received 150 complaints to the ASA, 46 of which were from viewers who claimed to have past experiences of abuse. The complaints generally revolved around the extremely upsetting, raw, disturbing nature of the PIF, claiming that it was too disturbing to be shown on TV. Thankfully, the ASA disregarded the complaints, and allowed the PIF to remain onair, which it did until Christmas 1999.

ASA Complaint Report – https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk...

The song from this PIF –    • Requiem: Pie Jesu  

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VARIANTS:
0:00 Original
1:03 No ending voiceover
2:03 Alternate ending song
3:07 Alternate dialogue
4:10 Mother short variant
4:23 Rupert short variant
4:37 Secret short variant
5:10 Secret alternate dialogue
5:43 Secret Christmas version
6:16 Phone number only

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NAME – "Can't Look"
COMPANY – National Society For The Prevention Of Cruelty To Children
YEAR – 1999
COUNTRY – United Kingdom
MEDIA – Public Information Film
TOPIC – Child Abuse

Advertising Agency – Saatchi & Saatchi
Sponsor – Microsoft
Director – Malcolm Venville
Creative Director – David Droga, John Pallant, Matt Ryan
Producer – Daniel Todd
Editor – Kirk Baxter
Lighting & Camera – Simon Chadoir
Music Composer – Andrew Lloyd Webber
Sound Designer – Raja Sehgal

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