Case’s Confessions: I am not scared of werewolves, vampires, or climate change. I am scared real things: serial killers, disease, and big government.
This ad for Australian AIDS prevention was before my time, but I saw it in the 90s when it was shown as a compilation of the scariest ads ever. The ad featured a grim reaper knocking people over like pins. The randomness and the victim’s helplessness gave me nightmares for weeks.
The ad’s message was terrifyingly clear: do NOT have sex with Australian women because they will give you AIDS. The ad worked because, TO THIS DAY, I have never slept with an Australian girl. When I went to Australia, I never had even a slight temptation to have any congress with any Australian lady or as they are also called there- Sheila, which I suppose is a common name there like Jenny is in a normal country like America that is not ravaged with disease.
I knew that as long as I avoided those women, I could engage in all kinds of debauchery. Whether I did or not I think I will save for my exclusive patreon blog (if I make one).
You can see the ad and an interview of the creators of the ad below.
Through the Shattered Lens 
Creepy shite
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I saw this when it first played on television in 1987. It appeared during a commercial break for a movie. Do you want to take a guess at which movie?
The Karate Kid.
Consider this in relation to the scene where Daniel is beaten up by the Cobra Kai on Halloween. Johnny, looking very much like The Grim Reaper, didn’t want Daniel to be with Ali. Johnny only went to second base with Ali, yet he felt that Daniel, an extremely impulsive character, as evidenced by Daniel’s behaviour on the beach, on the soccer pitch and in the men’s toilets, couldn’t be trusted. Was Johnny trying to beat some teenage responsibility into Daniel? Couldn’t Johnny have settled the matter with Daniel over a game of bowling? Maybe Johnny was misunderstood.
I used to think that The Grim Reaper’s favourite game was bowling, then I saw The Seventh Seal. The Reaper seems more at home playing chess. Unfortunately, The Reaper doesn’t play fairly when it comes to chess, as Antonius Block discovered. I have reason to believe that The Reaper even cheats at bowling. With all that dry ice, how do we know that The Reaper’s feet are behind the line?
In all seriousness, television stations have no awareness of their audience. I should point out that I was nine years of age when I saw this. No warning of what was about to appear, nothing like that. This footage received a tremendous amount of backlash and was removed promptly from the airwaves.
The voiceover man for this, John Stanton, has his birthday on October 28, so this post is timely.
As for the name Sheila, no, it isn’t especially common in Australia. Even the slang term is used rarely these days.
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You’re a really good sport about this. I appreciate it.
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