Old Star Wars PSAs About Drunk Driving and Smoking

Soeren Kamper Rarities

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Here is an old Star Wars Rarity. Back in 1979, creator George Lucas was still in the process of learning how to deal with the unexpected success of Star Wars and the huge incoming of merchandising and marketing opportunities that its popularity brought with it. The majority of the products from this time period are very special, such as early toys that were created by Kenner are now collectors’ items. However, the series of public service announcements have mainly been forgotten.

There is a quick clip that was commissioned by the United States Department of Transportation and it features Star Wars characters carousing in the spaceport’s bar. When a Talz patron is way too drunk to fly back home, a responsible Duros offers the friend a ride home to make sure he makes it alive, while not hurting others in space. At the end you can see the copyright mark of Black Falcon, Ltd., which was the subsidiary of Lucasfilm that was dealing with merchandising.

Before the drunk driving PSA there was a spot encouraging childhood immunizations in 1978. Then, in 1983, an anti-smoking PSA saw C-3PO giving a lecture to R2-D2 on the dangers of cigarettes.

Author

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    Soeren Kamper is the founder of StarWars: Gamers and a longtime Star Wars writer, community builder, and gaming journalist with nearly two decades of experience covering Star Wars games and fandom. He began writing about Star Wars: The Old Republic in 2008, later co-founding the SWTOR wiki and founding the SWTOR subreddit, and became an early, active figure in the game’s community. His hands-on involvement led to invitations from BioWare Austin and participation in SWTOR events during the game’s launch era. His work is grounded in long-term franchise knowledge, firsthand gaming experience, and deep roots in the Star Wars community.

Soeren Kamper

Soeren Kamper is the founder of StarWars: Gamers and a longtime Star Wars writer, community builder, and gaming journalist with nearly two decades of experience covering Star Wars games and fandom. He began writing about Star Wars: The Old Republic in 2008, later co-founding the SWTOR wiki and founding the SWTOR subreddit, and became an early, active figure in the game’s community. His hands-on involvement led to invitations from BioWare Austin and participation in SWTOR events during the game’s launch era. His work is grounded in long-term franchise knowledge, firsthand gaming experience, and deep roots in the Star Wars community.