CYBERSPACE—We know this will come as a shock to adult entertainment fans, but... SEX SELLS! But did they also know that sex sells... voting?
Well, meet the people behind the public service announcement (PSA) "Get Your Booty to the Poll," director Angela Barnes and producer Paul Fox, who... Well, we'll let them explain it:
"In the middle of the pandemic, while many of us were out of work, we decided that we wanted to help influence the election!" the pair write on the "Get Your Booty to the Poll" website. "Angela, our fearless director, thought it would be a great idea to have exotic dancers from some of Atlanta’s finest gentlemen’s clubs to tell their patrons and fans to ‘Get their booties to the poll!’
"Angela teamed up with Paul Fox, a prop master-turned-producer based out of Atlanta, and it was on. The pair recruited a slew of talented filmmakers and dancers, started a GoFundMe called ‘Angela and Paul want black people to vote’, and filmed their message in one day at the end of July, all while fearing the second wave of COVID-19.
"The entire crew was made up of volunteers who were dedicated to the message and idea of increasing the voter turn-out amongst the black male demographic."
But despite its creators' intentions, the PSA's reach clearly crosses all racial lines, with dancers in the PSA exhorting viewers that, "You know it's more than just the president on the ballot, right?... Check it: A district attorney decides who to prosecute, including whether or not to go after dirty cops. Do you know who elects the DA? We do."
The dancers also teach that elections impact all sorts of important issues, including what's taught in schools, the quality of public education, whether non-violent offenders must be required to post cash bail, and as one dancer put it, "It's clear Black lives don't matter to some of our current elected officials. If they matter to you, don't let other people decide who's gonna run your community. Get your booty to the poll." There's even a link to voter registration on the site for those who need it.
To say that the PSA is getting media traction would be putting it mildly. More than 20 media outlets have done stories on the ad, including several Atlanta-area TV stations, several popular websites... and on A Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the host even devoted a segment of his "Quarantine-While" series to the ad.
But perhaps the show that's given the PSA the most publicity nationwide is this week's HBO show, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.
"Our main story tonight concerns the 2020 election; among other things, the inspiration for the single best voting PSA the world has ever seen," Oliver began before showing the entire ad, then finishing the segment with, "Excellent. They hit prosecutors, cash bail, sheriffs and the importance of down-ballot races, all subjects we've talked about before on this show, but they did it in less time and more entertainingly, while also providing a much better 'get out the vote' message than anyone currently working for Joe Biden."
But lest anyone get the impression that it's only sex workers who are willing to get naked to promote voting, there's also the nonpartisan political organization RepresentUs, which convinced ten nationally known celebrities to appear on camera without their clothes to urge everyone to cast their ballot on or before Election Day.
Participants in the RepresentUs PSA include Tiffany Haddish, Sarah Silverman, Chelsea Handler, Ryan Bathe, Josh Gad, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Rock, Amy Shumer, Naomi Campbell, Sacha Baron Cohen's "Borat Sagdiev" character, and even Sarah Silverman's dad—who hopefully didn't have any problem with his daughter's saying on film, "To be honest, I wish I could cover my hands with my boobs, but here we are."
The celebs take viewers through the steps needed to cast a ballot in the upcoming election, with several advising them to read and follow the instructions that come with the ballot carefully, including Chelsea Handler warning, "If they say use a black pen, use a black pen." One segment also dealt with the fact that in some states, including Pennsylvania, the voted ballot must be tucked inside a "privacy envelope" before being inserted in the ballot mailer, because if not, that "naked ballot" won't be counted.
Sadly, as The New York Post's Page Six noted, "While the celebs proclaim that they’re baring it all, the clip doesn’t show any R-rated material: viewers only see the men from mid-chest and up and most of the ladies are shot from the shoulders up."
Let's face it: If people getting naked on national TV doesn't inspire at least a few guys, and maybe even a few gals, to make sure they vote in what may very well be the most important election in their lifetimes, we're not sure what would.
