Celebrities, and particularly movie stars, have an irritating tendency to believe that just because they were in That Big Movie from ten years ago, the American public should automatically care about their political opinions or which candidate they’re going to vote for in this year’s election. That’s why so many of them are apparently lining up to do not-at-all-subtle anti-Donald Trump “voter registration” public service announcements.
Well, one group of everyday Americans is here to send a message to these so-called celebs: they’re absolutely right. How would we know when Election Day is without the guy from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. reminding us?
That’s the gag behind a mock PSA from “adversarial advertising” company Brabender Cox, which gathered a group of regular (not-famous) Americans together to see what they think about the deluge of celebrity voting reminders.
“Election Day is Tuesday, November 8th. I know this because some famous actors told me,” the video’s participants deadpan to the camera. “Thanks famous actors. I had no idea.”
“They know stuff we just don’t know. Stuff we can’t know. Because we’re not famous actors. And they’re not just acting smart. They are smarter,” the group adds.
Based on its title, the video is a direct response to one of the more well-publicized celebrity voter PSAs released recently; Joss Whedon’s “Important – Save the Day” spot, in which he gathered together his cast from The Avengers — Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Don Cheadle and Mark Ruffalo — and a handful of other stars to remind Americans that it is, like, super important to vote in this year’s election, you guys.
“You might think it’s not important, you might you’re not important,” Mark Ruffalo tells us in that clip, released last month. “But that’s not true.”
“And the only way we can prove that to you is by having lots and lots of famous people repeating how important it is,” adds Downey Jr.
In fact, the only way they could get all those famous people together is because of the heightened importance of this year’s election. Take it from Don Cheadle: we could be stuck with a “racist, abusive coward who could permanently damage the fabric of our society.”
Well, thanks Hollywood actors, for reminding us not to vote for Trump.
“I could have made a terrible mistake without their help,” one (not famous) woman says in the first clip above. “I thought [Hillary] Clinton deleting all those emails was dishonest and corrupt, and put our national security at risk. But now we know it was all just an accident! An accident that could happen to any of us. Who among us couldn’t accidentally hit the delete button – thirty thousand times?”
Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum