Unintentionally hilarious anti-drug film from the 1960’s

A public information video from 1969 warning of the perils of taking LSD has been unearthed.

The unintentionally amusing film, entitled ‘Case Study: LSD’, documents a young woman’s first acid trip where a hot dog comes to life and claims he has a wife and kids to support.

In the three-minute clip, which was sponsored by the US Government and proposed to be screened across high schools in America, the woman describes how the hot dog screams in pain as she eats him.

The 18-year-old, who narrates the cautionary tale, is left traumatized by her psychedelic experience when she realizes that she has ‘murdered’ the hot dog.

The well-meaning film, a series of stills and clips, begins by describing how she went to a house party and an old school friend offers her the LSD drug. 

How did the clip begin? 

The curious woman explained: ‘I was pretty jacked up on marijuana, so I decided to try it, and I dropped it.’

At first it seems like the hallucinogenic substance has had no effect on the woman so she goes with her friend Terry to a hot dog stand in San Francisco’s Mission District. 

But as she orders her food and puts mustard on her hot dog, the music becomes eerie – trying to replicate the effects of the drug.

When the female narrator puts the hot dog to her mouth, she hears ‘someone scream’. Then when she prepares to bite the wiener again, the scream gets louder. 

She realizes the cries are coming from the hot dog and that he has a face. At this point in ‘Case Study: LSD’, the hot dog turns into a bearded troll doll in a bun.

The hot dog talking to the woman 

In one of the most hilarious parts of the film, the hot dog begins talking to the woman and telling her about his children and wife at home.

She said: ‘He started telling me that I couldn’t eat him. He had a wife and seven kids at home to support. 

In the three-minute film, which was sponsored by the US Government and proposed to be screened across high schools in America, the woman describes how the hot dog screams in pain as she eats him

She realizes the cries are coming from the hot dog and that he has a face. At this point in ‘Case Study: LSD’, the hot dog turns into a bearded troll doll in a bun

‘And I stood there with this hot dog and asked Terry “Do you know this hot dog is talking to me?”

‘He thought I was just faking and I told him, “Look at the thing he has a face and he’s screaming!”‘ 

Realising it was a hallucination 

Terry eventually joins the woman’s acid trip and the pair begin conversing with the hot dog. The woman resolves that the speaking hot dog is a hallucination and bites into it. 

However as she does this, a blood-curdling scream can be heard from the hot dog and the woman steps on it to stop it from shrieking.

She said: ‘It [the hot dog] screamed so loud that you could hear it all over town so I had to throw it on the ground and step on it. I realized I had murdered it and I took off screaming down the street ‘

As she orders her food and puts mustard on her hot dog, the music becomes eerie – trying to replicate the effects of the drug

The 18-year-old, who narrates the cautionary tale, is left traumatized by her psychedelic experience when she realizes that she has ‘murdered’ the hot dog

The woman resolves that the speaking hot dog is a hallucination and bites into it. However as she does this, a blood-curdling scream can be heard from the hot dog and the woman steps on it to stop it from shrieking

The film ends with an image of the woman being distressed by her experience on the psychedelic drug and the realization that she has slaughtered a hot dog.

LSD is known for altering a person’s consciousness – resulting in hallucinations and ‘ego-dissolution,’ or a loss of the sense of self.

One person can spend several hours in a very happy place – while other individuals can spend many hours lost in their own fears and paranoia.

Who was it sponsored by? 

During the late 1960s, the US Government defence contractor Lockheed Corporation began sponsoring a series of educational short films for children, examining the dangers of different recreational drugs.

When this film was released in 1969, it was the recreational drug of choice in the hippie counter culture of the decade and reports of acid induced psychoses disturbed parents across America.

Richard Nixon began to wage war on the drug and education films were used in schools to warn children of the dire consequences of LSD use. 

Just last month, US President Donald Trump told reporters when he was growing up LSD was the prime drug for teenagers. 

The well-meaning film begins by describing how she went to a house party and an old school friend offers her the LSD drug. The curious woman (pictured with her friend Terry) explained: ‘I was pretty jacked up on marijuana, so I decided to try it, and I dropped it’

She said: ‘It [the hot dog] screamed so loud that you could hear it all over town so I had to throw it on the ground and step on it. I realized I had murdered it’