Nate Whitley

The ad campaign for the war on drugs in the 1980's should be kept in mind when trumps new ads are released. One 80's add which spotlights a young African American kid running through a bad neighborhood, dodging drug dealers while taking the "long way home". It ends not with the usual phrase, "just say no to drugs", but instead with "we hear you, don't give up". This is clearly a promise to the lower classes of America. Let it be said this is an inherently a racist add it, as it uses an African American to reach out to all lower classes. The add seems to acknowledge that many kids can't just say no to drugs, and may turn to the drug dealers instead because they seem to understand them and know their plight. This ad aims to let kids in this situation know that they have the government coming to help them. This of course never really happened, however it will be interesting to see if trump even attempts to connect with the lower class in his drug campaign. Seeing as how he is probably running these adds to appease his base, it would be unexpected for him to attempt to make this connection. My prediction is that the ads stick to the core values his base generally holds true. They will be focused around how drugs can destroy families, and will not criticize alcohol or tobacco products. There will also probably be at least one outlandish claim regarding the effects of drugs and something super racist.