If everyone decided to vote, the political landscape of the entire United States would change. Political candidates would no longer cater towards the wealthy, white, and older citizens- the demographics more likely to vote. Liberal policies would be more present than ever before. And most notably, representatives would truly be chosen by the people. However, voter rates are dismal in the United States; about 55% of the population votes in presidential elections, and that number decreases for primaries, midterms, etc. The biggest offender of low voter turnout is young people. In 2016, only 43% of citizens aged 18 to 29 voted in the presidential election, compared to 71% of citizens 60 years and older. Regardless of the turnout, it is evident that apathy is not a problem with young voters–follow-through is.
In response to this lack of civic action, Alec Beckett decided to take matters into his own hands in order to break the cycle in time for the 2018 election. But many activists have tried and failed to achieve this goal, so he decided to develop a campaign that asks one simple thing of young people: don’t vote. The video entitled “Dear Young People, ‘Don’t Vote’” is a somewhat twisted take on typical voter advertisement, but because of the shocking language it manages to hit a nerve that all the feel-good voter campaigns miss. The cruel mocking of the issues that matter most to young people capitalizes on their beliefs, while also implementing an obligation to vote because if they don’t their inaction is directly contradicting their beliefs. These factors directly contributed to this campaign’s success in 2018, and because of the niche language, this ad can be just as, if not more, effective in 2020.
For the Democratic Party, the 2018 election had high stakes since the Republican Party held control of the House, Senate, and White House. Only 20% of people 18 to 29 years old voted in the previous midterm elections, and considering young people tend to favor democratic policies, the inaction from this large voting block was significantly hurting the Democratic Party. Beckett knew the impact a large turnout of youth voters would have on the midterm elections, which could sway Congress to the Democrats. So he sought to enrage, not inspire, young people into voting.
First, the campaign cuts to multiple, seemingly innocent old people saying “don’t vote.” This intriguing start is enough to engage and confuse people to draw attention to the ad. Then, the true intentions are slowly unveiled with the line “everything is fine the way it is.” This line is the start of the sharp contrast that stays throughout the rest of the campaign because many young people did not feel “everything was fine” approaching the 2018 election. Then the rage sets in when the old people begin to mock and belittle the issues most important to young people–from Black Lives Matter to climate change. “Climate change, that’s a you problem–I’ll be dead soon,” is a major problem for young people today because the race to save the Earth seems to be a ticking time bomb. The old people take on an apathetic tone about these issues, and it is enraging, but the underlying message they are conveying is that young people are the ones who do not care because they will never take action. This is why the final part of the ad is so important for inspiring action because after poking at the emotional subject matter, they lay down the facts. “But you won’t vote–you young people never do,” and “we’ll be there, but you won’t.” This final push exposes the reality of the United States voter demographic, young people make up the smallest voting block, and their negligence is costing them.
While the issues targeted in this ad were specifically chosen to be relevant to the 2018 election, they still hold true in 2020 as popular voting interests for young people. Especially with the upcoming presidential election. Trump is largely unpopular with youth voters with a 77% disapproval rate. The old people in this ad who take on a villainous persona say “Trump, that was us–he’s our guy.” This holds much more weight in 2020 because Trump’s position as president is up for grabs. Another issue that also takes a different meaning in 2020 is, “I can’t keep track of which lives matter.” This refers to the Black Lives Matter Movement which after the death of George Floyd sparked massive protests across the world- not just the United States. This target language is an effective tool in 2020 that can be used again to spark the same action that was seen in the 2018 election. The amount of 18 to 24-years-olds who voted jumped 79%; this was a historic increase that turned the House of Representatives into a democratic majority. If this campaign can have the same effect in 2020, the change could be record-breaking.
Although Beckett’s campaign is a uniquely effective strategy, it is only meaningful to a very small portion of the population. The most obvious constraint is this ad is directed at Americans and only seeks to make a change in American politics. Then the direct address “Dear young people” at the start of the ad begins to narrow the impact of this ad. But the most notable constraint is this ad only applies to people who tend to have left-centered views. The issues brought up are unique to the concerns of left centered viewers, and the language is intended to spark anger in them to vote. For a young conservative, this ad does not elicit the same passionate response as it would to a young liberal. This would limit the effectiveness if the goal was getting all young people to vote, but it is not. The creator of this campaign was trying to draw support for the Democratic party, and likely does not care about the voting block isolated from this video. The majority of young voters lean left, but also do not vote, so to achieve this unattainable goal of getting young people to vote, isolating others in the process was a step Beckett was willing to make.
In addition to the established limitations of the campaign, the intended audience is important to reach the full potential. The choice to use actors over real politicians is an interesting choice. But this choice makes more sense when you consider that by using “real people” the ad establishes the average voter or the people who will be deciding their fate. It also gives a sense of hope, that these cruel old people can be taken down and outvoted. Instead of relying on out-of-touch politicians who are not being actively challenged by young people, using an average voter that can be easily overtaken sets a goal that can be achieved. And of course combine that with the best way to reach youth voters, social media. The ad was circulated on Snapchat, Instagram, and predominantly Twitter. Instead of wasting time running cable ads, they circulated the ad directly to the people they wanted to see it, which made all the difference in meeting their goals.
Overall, “Dear Young People, ‘Don’t Vote’” took a bold approach to an issue when nothing else was working. Now in light of the 2020 election, it seems more than ever that young people are concerned about the unpredictable political climate. But the question is, is an Instagram post as far as many of them are willing to go? Beckett’s goal with this campaign challenges the stereotype that young people don’t vote, and gives young people an ultimatum to make a change. While the final vote count is unknown right now, nearly 14 million people have already voted setting record high numbers for early voting. 2020 has the potential to be a groundbreaking election and might be the beginning of active, young voters across the United States.
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