Jack-in-the-Box PSA

The jack-in-the-box PSA is a child abuse PSA aired in Indiana in the early 1980s. The PSA features a porcelain baby doll head coming out of a jack-in-the-box toy and being whacked.

Plot

A jack-in-the-box plays a lullaby as it is cranked. When the box springs open, a porcelain baby doll head pops out, as the sound of a baby crying is heard. The head is suddenly but promptly smacked by a baseball bat or a hammer.

Airings

One witness reported seeing the PSA in Bicknell, Indiana, part of the Terre Haute television market, between 1983 and 1985. They recalled the PSA airing during cartoons, including He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, which, in Terre Haute, aired on weekday afternoons on WBAK-TV (now WAWV-TV), the ABC station in the market, at 3:30 PM weekdays in between Mighty Mouse and The Flintstones as part of a cartoon block.

The Search

A description of the commercial can be found on the Public Service Announcement section of the Nightmare Fuel page on TV Tropes. It's difficult to ascertain how long ago the entry was originally added, as many entries on the page were copy-and-pasted in bulk from deleted pages. However, there is a Reddit post from 2016 with the entry copied verbatim, so it is at least nine years old.

A Twitter user posted about the commercial in December 2020. They were contacted by the LCF and provided the information about the timeframe and location. They have no further information about the PSA.

How Can I Help?

* Watching early 1980s commercial breaks on YouTube
* Looking for early 1980s VHS tapes that may contain the ad
* Researching organizations that could have produced the ad