Stop it. Get some help.

Last updated
A screenshot from the beginning of the advertisement. Michael Jordan Anti-Drug PSA, 1987.png
A screenshot from the beginning of the advertisement.

"Stop it. Get some help." is an internet meme taken from an anti-drug public service announcement (PSA) presented by American basketballer Michael Jordan in collaboration with the fast food corporation McDonald's. The PSA was produced by McDonald's to increase sales during the contemporary "Just Say No" anti-drug ad campaign, supported by the United States federal government and several other companies under the influence of Reaganite ideals. The PSA itself consists of Jordan warning about the dangers of drug abuse in a direct address to younger audiences. The message of the PSA has been interpreted as minimizing the impact of institutional racism as a cause of drug abuse in the United States. A segment of the PSA became an internet meme expressing humorous disagreement, beginning in the 2010s with the video hosting platform Vine.

Contents

Background

During the 1980s, Michael Jordan was an American basketballer who became nationally renowned for his prowess as a star player for the Chicago Bulls. [1] Popularizing the sport to outsiders, he secured various sponsorship deals, including one with Nike to promote the Air Jordan brand of basketball shoes, released in 1985. [1] Around the same time, the American fast-food restaurant chain McDonald's had over 7,500 outlets worldwide by 1984, [2] and was promoting the message of "Just Say No" in the United States in order to increase sales. [3] [4] "Just Say No" was an American mass advertising campaign in the 1980s supported by the United States federal government and several companies which promoted awareness of the harms of drug abuse to children. [4] Influenced by Reaganite ideals, the message of the campaign was intended to emphasize personal responsibility while negating institutional racism as the cause of drug abuse. [5]

Public service announcement

McDonald's produced the advertisement in collaboration with Jordan, [6] with the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) airing the televised PSA on May 26, 1987. [7] The PSA, one minute in length, features Jordan in a tan suit speaking to the viewer about the harmful affects of drug abuse. [8] Speaking directly to children, he warns that drug abuse will deny long-term hopes and wishes to the youthful. [6] Throughout the advertisement, Jordan is presented as a role model for youths and pleads to them the following: [5]

So don't blow it, don't do drugs. If you're doing it, stop it. Get some help. McDonald's wants you to give yourself a chance, a chance to find out the wonderful things you can really be. And so do I.

Interpretation

According to the 2002 book Sport Stars: The Cultural Politics of Sporting Celebrity, the advertisement positions Jordan as a role model whose declaration of abstinence from narcotics signifies his moral worth and juxtaposes himself from drug addicts in predominantly Black urban communities. The example of Jordan, along with other success stories of Black Americans of the time, is therefore used to condemn "the struggling African American masses for lacking the personal resolution which, according to Reaganism's doctrine of rugged individualism and color-blind bigotry, was all that was required to achieve in American society." [5]

Legacy

Following the PSA, Jordan would continue collaborating with McDonald's, with the restaurant chain eventually releasing the "McJordan Special", a sandwich named after the basketballer. [9]

By October 2021, Chaitanya Dadhwal of EssentiallySports said that the advertisement had "gained a lot of recognition on the internet" although for a different reason than was originally intended by the producers of the PSA. [6] Initially viral on the social media Vine before it was shut down in 2017, a segment from the advertisement where Jordan says "Stop it. Get some help." became an internet meme as a humorous message indicating disagreement. [8]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Jordan</span> American basketball player (born 1963)

Michael Jeffrey Jordan, also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. He played 15 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) between 1984 and 2003, winning six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls. He was integral in popularizing basketball and the NBA around the world in the 1980s and 1990s, becoming a global cultural icon. His profile on the NBA website states, "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time."

A public service announcement (PSA) is a message in the public interest disseminated by the media without charge to raise public awareness and change behavior. Oftentimes these messages feature unsettling imagery, ideas or behaviors that are designed to startle or even scare the viewer into understanding the consequences of undergoing a particular harmful action or inaction as well as the importance of avoiding such choices. In the UK, they are generally called a public information film (PIF); in Hong Kong, they are known as an announcement in the public interest (API).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Just Say No</span> Anti-drug ad campaign

"Just Say No" was an advertising campaign prevalent during the 1980s and early 1990s as a part of the U.S.-led war on drugs, aiming to discourage children from engaging in illegal recreational drug use by offering various ways of saying no. The slogan was created and championed by Nancy Reagan during her husband's presidency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ad Council</span> American nonprofit organization

The Advertising Council, commonly known as Ad Council, is an American nonprofit organization that produces, distributes, and promotes public service announcements or PSAs on behalf of various sponsors, including nonprofit organizations, non-governmental organizations and agencies of the United States government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Internet meme</span> Cultural item spread via the Internet

An Internet meme, or meme, is a cultural item that spreads across the Internet, primarily through social media platforms. Internet memes manifest in a variety of formats, including images, videos, GIFs, and other viral content. Key characteristics of memes include their tendency to be parodied, their use of intertextuality, their viral dissemination, and their continual evolution. The term "meme" was originally introduced by Richard Dawkins in 1972 to describe the concept of cultural transmission.

<i>This Is Your Brain on Drugs</i> US anti-drug campaign

This Is Your Brain on Drugs was a large-scale US anti-narcotics campaign by Partnership for a Drug-Free America (PDFA) launched in 1987, that used three televised public service announcements (PSAs) and a related poster campaign.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mac Tonight</span> McDonalds advertising character

Mac Tonight was a character used in marketing for McDonald's restaurants during the late 1980s. Known for his crescent moon head, sunglasses and piano-playing, the character played the song "Mack the Knife", which was made famous in the United States by Bobby Darin. Throughout the campaign, Mac was performed by actor Doug Jones and voiced by Brock Walsh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winners Don't Use Drugs</span> American anti-drug slogan

"Winners Don't Use Drugs" is an anti-drug slogan that was included in arcade games imported by the American Amusement Machine Association (AAMA) into North America from 1989 to 2000. The slogan appeared during an arcade game's attract mode. The messages are credited to FBI Director William S. Sessions, whose name appears alongside the slogan. Sessions was dismissed from the FBI in July 1993. After 1993, the slogan was attributed to "FBI Director" until the campaign was phased out in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Propaganda in the United States</span> Overview of propaganda in the United States

In the United States, propaganda is spread by both government and non-government entities. Throughout its history, to the present day, the United States government has issued various forms of propaganda to both domestic and international audiences. The US government has instituted various domestic propaganda bans throughout its history, however, some commentators question the extent to which these bans are respected.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Companies Committed to Kids</span> Canadian non-profit organization

Companies Committed to Kids was a Canadian non-profit organization based in Toronto, founded in 1990 by former chief executive officer Sunni Boot and former president of the Global Television Network David Mintz as a contributive production-wide body dedicated to launching campaigns and expressing the significance of their public service announcements to target children between the ages of eight and 12. It produced over 30 announcements, covering topics such as drug abuse, conformity, self-esteem, and bullying. Each PSA ends with the logo of the organization. Usually, the commercials partnered up with Health Canada.

Racism on the Internet sometimes also referred to as cyber-racism and more broadly considered as an online hate crime or an internet hate crime consists of racist rhetoric or bullying that is distributed through computer-mediated means and includes some or all of the following characteristics: ideas of racial uniqueness, racist attitudes towards specific social categories, racist stereotypes, hate-speech, nationalism and common destiny, racial supremacy, superiority and separation, conceptions of racial otherness, and anti-establishment world-view. Racism online can have the same effects as offensive remarks made face-to-face.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Partnership to End Addiction</span>

Partnership to End Addiction, formerly called The Partnership for a Drug Free America, is a non-profit organization aiming to prevent the misuse of illegal drugs. The organization is most widely known for its TV ad This Is Your Brain on Drugs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Cybersmile Foundation</span> Anti-cyberbullying organization

The Cybersmile Foundation is an international nonprofit organization committed to tackling all forms of cyberbullying and digital abuse. They promote kindness, diversity, and inclusion through professional support services, education programs, awareness campaigns and corporate partnerships.

Stop Cyberbullying Day is an international awareness day launched by The Cybersmile Foundation on 17 June 2012, taking place on the third Friday of June annually. The day encourages people from around the world to show their commitment toward a truly inclusive and diverse online environment for all, without fear of personal threats, harassment or abuse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doge (meme)</span> Internet meme

Doge is an Internet meme that became popular in 2013. The meme consists of a picture of a Shiba Inu dog, accompanied by multicolored text in Comic Sans font in the foreground. The text, representing a kind of internal monologue, is deliberately written in a form of broken English. The meme originally and most frequently uses an image of a Shiba Inu named Kabosu, though versions with other Shiba Inus are also popular.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Be Like Mike</span> 1991 Gatorade commercial featuring American professional basketball player Michael Jordan

Be Like Mike is a television advertisement for Gatorade starring American professional basketball player Michael Jordan. Created by advertising agency Bayer Bess Vanderwarker, it featured various children and adults playing basketball with Jordan, set to a song with lyrics about wishing one could be like the basketball player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crying Jordan</span> Internet meme

Crying Jordan, also known as Crying MJ, Crying Michael Jordan, or Weepy J is an Internet meme in which an image of NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan crying is superimposed on images of athletes or others who have suffered various mishaps.

The Right Stuff is a neo-Nazi and white nationalist blog and discussion forum and the host of several podcasts, including The Daily Shoah. Founded by American neo-Nazi Mike Enoch, the website promotes Holocaust denial, and coined the use of "echoes", an antisemitic marker that uses triple parentheses around names to identify Jewish people.

References

  1. 1 2 Gerard, Philip (2022-02-28). "The 1980s: Michael Jordan Changes the Game". Our State . ISSN   1092-0838. Archived from the original on 2024-05-25. Retrieved 2024-11-12.
  2. ↑ Smith, Andrew F. (2012). "McDonald's". In Smith, Andrew F. (ed.). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America (2 ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acref/9780199734962.001.0001. ISBN   978-0-19-973496-2 . Retrieved 2024-11-12.
  3. ↑ Marez, Curtis (2004). Drug Wars: The Political Economy of Narcotics. U of Minnesota Press. p. 291. ISBN   978-0-8166-4060-7.
  4. 1 2 Dufton, Emily (2017-12-05). Grass Roots: The Rise and Fall and Rise of Marijuana in America. Hachette UK. p. 196. ISBN   978-0-465-09617-6.
  5. 1 2 3 Andrews, David L.; Jackson, Steven J. (2002-09-11). Sport Stars: The Cultural Politics of Sporting Celebrity. Routledge. pp. 26–27. ISBN   978-1-134-59854-0.
  6. 1 2 3 Dadhwal, Chaitanya (2021-10-11). ""Stop It Get Some Help": The Iconic Anti-Drugs Ad of Michael Jordan That Birthed Countless Memes". EssentiallySports . Archived from the original on 2021-10-25. Retrieved 2024-11-12.
  7. ↑ Jones, Madison; Beveridge, Aaron; Garrison, Julian R.; Greene, Abbey; MacDonald, Hannah (2022-06-09). "Tracking Memes in the Wild: Visual Rhetoric and Image Circulation in Environmental Communication". Frontiers in Communication. 7. doi: 10.3389/fcomm.2022.883278 . ISSN   2297-900X.
  8. 1 2 Norris, Luke (2023-01-13). "Where Did the Michael Jordan 'Stop It, Get Some Help' GIF Come From?". SportsCasting. Archived from the original on 2024-11-12. Retrieved 2024-11-12.
  9. ↑ Goodwyn, Robyn (2023-07-24). "Celebrities Who Love McDonald's As Much As The Rest Of Us". Mashed.com . Archived from the original on 2023-09-25. Retrieved 2024-11-12.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.