How the Bee Gees and five hedgehogs made UK roads the safest in Europe
A departure from the doom-and-gloom public safety adverts of the time, the COI’s road safety hedgehogs were a friendlier alternative that boosted awareness of the green cross code among children by 87% and helped improve road safety across the UK.
If you remember anything about public safety ads in the 70s, 80s and 90s it was that they were meant to frighten the living daylights out of you.
From the grim reaper hanging around lakes and ponds to warn children about the dangers of drowning to a wellington boot getting trapped in an escalator, the government’s Central Office of Information (COI) certainly sent more than a few of us off to bed with nightmares.