Lockheed’s Hilarious Anti-Drugs Shorts (1969)

"I turned a corner and walked right into a wall..."

 

 

Lockheed Corporation drug films

Life magazine, October 31, 1969

In 1969 both Time and Life magazine had covers  featuring the problem of drugs and the young generation. In an article titled “Pop Drugs: The High as a Way of Life” — the magazine showed an array of statistics about youthful drug use. At the August 1969 Woodstock music festival in upstate New York for instance, “some 90% of the 400,000 participants openly smoked marijuana [which brought] the youthful drug culture to a new apogee.” At about the same time Life magazine published a huge article about marijuana use.

While not making bombers and nuclear missiles, and paying millions of dollars in bribes to foreign governments  the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation joined in the concern. The Lockheed Corporation,  an American aerospace company founded in 1926 by Allan Lockheed, sponsored a series of short films: Case Study: Heroin, Case Study: Amphetamines, Case Study: Barbiturates and Case Study: LSD. The message was clear: drugs ware dangerous and they might be deadly if you take them at a nuclear missile production factory. Two years later the company  was drowning in debt and eventually had to be loaned 1.4 billion dollars by the US Government.

Lockheed drug films

Lockheed Tri-star ad 1969 – it didn’t go to plan. By the time the aircraft was launched the company was mired in debt.

LSD:

 

 

HEROIN:

 

 

AMPHETAMINES:

 

BARBITURATES:

Time magazine 1969

Lockheed Corporation drug films

Rolling a joint from a 1969 Life magazine article – photos by Co Rentmeester.

 

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