The federal government makes pretty bizarre firework-safety videos

Heading into the 4th of July weekend, its always important to remember some important firework safety protocol — and there’s arguably no better way to do it than with the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s videos.

Yes, these videos are produced by an agency of the federal government. No, they don’t exactly appear that way. I first stumbled upon their work last year when the Fix posted some gifs from the commission’s 1996 demonstration on the National Mall of all the different ways one could get injured using fireworks. It involves dolls catching on fire and an exploding watermelon. CPSC circled back to exploding watermelons and mannequins

But, as difficult as it is to believe, this might not even be the most awkward Consumer Product Safety Commission video. There’s this one, from two years ago, that shows a family of stick figures ravaged by sparkler injuries to a really intense soundtrack.

Then there’s this 2010 video, which begins with a minute of mannequins losing their lives to firework injuries while the 1812 Overture plays in the background.

This year, the CPSC arguably circled back to its bread and butter: exploding watermelons: