New MoveOn Ad Targets Black Youth

Backstory
MoveOn has partnered with top TV & film talent to release a new ad every week for 10 weeks. The luminaries list includes:

Matt Damon, Rob Reiner, Richard Linklater, Scarlett Johanssen, Kevin Bacon, Al Franken, Rebecca Romijn, Martin Sheen, Margaret Cho, Doug Limon (The Bourne Identity), Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream), Donal Logue, Ed Asner, Charlie Fisher (Bush in 30 Seconds Ad Contest Winner) Moby, John Sayles (Silver City), Allison Anders, Illeana Douglas, Ione Skye, and many others.

On Friday, MoveOn released a new ad entitled "Everybody" to mobilize the youth vote and African American vote, which is scheduled to run on MTV and BET.



View the commercial here.

MoveOn discusses the issues behind the ad:

Ever since African-Americans attained the right to vote in this country those threatened by the idea have undermined their right to vote. Had it not been for the active suppression of the black vote in Florida in 2000, Al Gore would have won the presidency -- it's not a question.

In the last two decades, Republicans have used a variety of tactics to prevent blacks from voting, and when they do, to prevent their votes counted. The tactics range from intimidation, misinformation, tampering with registration rolls, and where they have control over how elections are administered, the use of separate-but-unequal voting equipment and processes.

In 2000, only 36 percent of the 24 million eligible voters ages 18 to 24 voted. The traditional wisdom has been that young people don't vote, but that's changing thanks to groups like Russell Simmons' Hip-Hop Action Summit, the League of Independent Voters, Rock-the-Vote and others. As a group, young Americans are more progressive and vote more Democratic than the mainstream.

My challenge to you is this:

1. What's your reaction to the ad? Do you think it will be effective in mobilizing the black youth vote?
2. If NO, what would be a better way to reach out? What can we do about it?
3. If YES, you know the drill: forward the ad to your friends (easy to do through the MoveOn site here and put it up on your own websites.

Via Gallimaufry.