Monday, September 05, 2016

Most young people don’t vote. Condescending to them isn’t helping.

The Washington Post reports:
The video is filled with lewd innuendoes, sly suggestions and incessant repetition of the number 69. It’s narrated by a young woman and man who keep saying things like “insert” and “on top” and “niiice.”

They’re not talking about sex. They’re talking about voting.

This is the premise of an actual public service announcement aimed at getting millennials to vote this year. Released this month from the news start-up Mic, the advertisement is based on the premise that, according to Pew Research Center, 69 million millennials and 69 million baby boomers are eligible to vote this year — hence, the excuse for some sex jokes. The video squeezes in other pertinent statistics and actual information about issues of interest to young people, but they’re sandwiched between cheesy, suggestive jokes.

“Sometimes it seems like [baby boomers] are afraid to try new positions,” a narrator says, “but we’re ready to go down on history.”
Good luck with that campaign.