It’s been 30 years since Members Only and the League of Women Voters launched an instant classic political ad encouraging Americans to vote.
The ad, titled “Dictators”, was aired as a Get-Out-The-Vote campaign in 1988.
It featured black and white news clips of Germany’s Adolf Hitler, the Soviet Union’s Joseph Stalin and Italy’s Benito Mussolini. Each a ruthless dictator of their country.
Benito Mussolini, the Fascist dictator of Italy.
After seeing each dictator for a few seconds (and hearing their voices), the announcer concludes the ad with:
“Two hundred years ago the Constitution of the United States suggested a very simple way to keep idiots like these out of our government.”
Then viewers see on the screen:
“There is no excuse not to vote.”
Take a look, from the Jim Heath Channel on YouTube:
Still good advice.
Members Only is still around. It was a brand of clothing that became really popular in the 1980s with its line of racer jackets.