As a kid, I always wondered why adults were leaving blasting caps around often enough that they had to hire Willie Mays to make a commercial about it.
This old PSA is such a strange piece of TV history. One minute you were watching cartoons or cereal commercials, and the next minute one of the greatest baseball players of all time was looking into the camera warning you not to touch explosives.
It feels like it came from that era before everything had ten warning labels, sealed packaging, and a legal department reviewing every word. The message was simple: if you find a blasting cap, do not pick it up. Tell a policeman, a fireman, or an adult.
Looking back, it is funny how many safety lessons were delivered to kids through television. Fire safety, seat belts, strangers, drugs, littering, and apparently, random blasting caps.
Only back then could Willie Mays interrupt your Saturday morning to warn you about explosives.
Do you remember this PSA?
