Don't Vote!

On September 24 2018 a youtube channel called Acronym released a video to encourage the youth to vote…

by urging them not to vote.

source: knockthe.vote

This clever advert had Trump loving, old, rich, white people mock you into voting.

In the video a set of elderly people express their disinterest and misunderstanding on very current issues.

“Tax cuts for the rich? Hell yeah” One man says

“if the weather is nice maybe you could go on one of those little marches” one lady mocks referring to the countless marches young people organize instead of actually voting

“We’ll be there, I bet you won’t. because we’re a generation of do-ers not whiners and we’re doing great” Says others

This satirical ad plays off the fact that not many young people get involved in voting. To encourage involvement the ad uses fear and mockery to get youth participation in the midterms.

When first watching the ad, confusion and annoyance was my immediate impression. Another set of ignorant elderly people completely misinterpreting the younger generation. However after soon realizing they were actors and it was an ad to encourage youth to vote, I was impressed. Impressed at how effective the ad was since, although I am not old enough nor am I an American citizen, the mockery made me want to prove them wrong.

Personally, I believe the best and most memorable ads are captivating and invoke genuine emotion. This ad did just that. By mocking much of my generations effort for a progressive future, sparked a feeling of anger and irritation. Their target demographic was my generation. I can honestly say it caught my attention immediately. Not to mention the profanity used being an attention-grabber as well

However, although this ad is made up of actors who sarcastically poke at the youth's values; it is common knowledge that there are people with similar and legitimate views as expressed in the ad. We have all seen it, the ignorant Trump loving rich white people who spew their ignorance on not only the internet but the election box as well. *cough cough* Tomi Lahren *cough cough*.This scares this generation because we had already made the mistake of letting Trump win the 2016 election. A president who is racist, disrespects women, and does not believe in climate change. The ad reminds us that more politicians with the same values as Trump could be elected into congress during the midterms. This scares us to the point that we want to vote and encourage others to vote as well.

Like the actors in the advert said “We’ll be there, I bet you won’t. because we’re a generation of do-ers not whiners and we’re doing great”. This insinuates that people who vote make real change. As I see it, if you do not or did not vote, you have no right in complaining about the elected parties and their views. With the exception of youth under the age of 18 and those who simply cannot vote even if they wanted to. The "We're doing great" part exceptionally is powerful because it is evident that the state of America is no where near great.

Undoubtedly this advert convinces the youth to do vote. At this time I am writing this, midterms are over. Many forward thinking young people (who likely saw this ad as well) took to the polls because the results are record-breaking. The voter turnout broke records and there are many firsts elected in to congress. How was this accomplished? Through ads like this one, awareness through social media, and lessons learned. Nevertheless ads like this proved to be effective.