The 80’s were a strange time. Looking back and what we now know about addition,
the government’s solution to the problem was laughable and ridiculous at best..
First Lady Nancy Reagan’s famous saying when it came to drugs was and i quote “just say no."
the saying didn’t seem to resonate with young people. In fact, my favourite quote about just
say no would came from steven Tyler of Aerosmith who told the LA Times Bless Nancy Reagan’s heart,
but you can’t just say no. That’s like telling a manic depressant to just cheer up.
By 1987 it seemed like people realized that the just say no slogan wasn’t working and the LA Times
would publish an op-ed the same year that said and i quote For millions of teen-age rock fans
grappling with the temptations of drug and alcohol abuse, Nancy’s Reagan’s “Just Say No” just does
not work. Yet many of these same fans seem to be responding to a series of television ads made by
some of the country’s biggest rock stars--because these people talk in their language. What am I
talking about? Well I'm talking about the rock against drugs ads that aired on mtv
The 80’s saw rock, popular music and hollywood under the microscope for what social conservatives
claimed was a glorification of sex and drugs. In fact President Ronald Reagan, for example,
repeatedly attacked the film and music industries again, saying the music industry and i quote “has
a responsibility to keep those who glorify drug use away from minors.” His wife, Nancy Reagan,
in addition to her ‘just say no’ slogan urged school aged kids to sign anti-drug pledges,
and even attacked the Madonna film Desperately seeking Susan showing Madonna smoking a joint.
Danny Goldberg's op-ed would criticize the administration writing “Such criticism
is consistent with the Administration’s pattern of combatting drug abuse--attacking
symptoms without getting to cause.” Many rockstars back in the day refused to work with the white
house’s just say no campaign because as Danny Goldberg, would put it and i quote they believe
its condescending tone conflicts with what they feel is the emotional honesty of rock ‘n’ roll.
T new group called Rock Against Drugs would be established by record company executives and
according to the chicago tribune the department of justice Goldberg would look back at it's formation
writing in the LATimes“Rock Against Drugs was created after I told Atty. Gen. John Van de
Kamp’s drug-abuse panel that attacks on rock ‘n’ roll by authority figures hurt the fight against
drug abuse. In the last decade, there has not been a single pro-drug hit compared with the
many anti-drug songs produced- The thinking behind RAD is that America's youth would be more inclined
to listen those they look up to and those who have been there rather than authority figures.
The RAD campaign would enlist a whose who of rock n' roll including Lou Reed, Vince Neil,
Jon Bon Jovi, & Gene Simmons, Ted Nugent and Belinda Carlisle to name a few.
Here’s a snippet of the RAD ads that ran in the 80's. Backstage at a rock n' roll show.
There's no drugs we don't need drugs we got rock n' roll. Rock n' roll is our high. High. Hi,
I'm Jon Bon Jovi and I've been given a script to talk to you about drugs, rock n'
roll and having a fun time a good time nd all that good stuff. Well I'll tell you what drugs is not
part of my everyday routine. It's not everyday fun, it's not good for you. So alright, listen
thinks twice before you do drugs, because there's ain't no winners out there doing it.
Hi, I'm my names Steve Jones I used to play guitar in a band called the Sex Pistols.
A good friend of mine Sid Vicious died from drugs. I nearly died from drugs. Drugs suck.
You know I've been playing rock n' roll for a lot of years and I've done it all.
Now I do it without drugs. Hey don't get me wrong I still party with the best of them,
but now I do it clean and I'm on top of everything I do.
Belinda Carlisle would later reveal that despite appearing in the ad
sshe was struggling with addiction the time and she wouldn't get clean until 2005.
But even steve jones who appears in the RAD Commercials seemed to disagree with
it’s message telling the LA Times * : “When I was 16, I wouldn’t have stopped doing drugs
even if Jimi Hendrix had told me to. I didn’t stop till I was ready. But I
think kids can get the picture a lot quicker if they hear that it’s not happening to do
drugs. And I think the punishments for drug crimes should be more severe" he would say.
As for how effective the ads were, well Danny Goldberg would write in his oped
It’s impossible to measure exactly the effect of any advertising campaign, but letters from fans
have been encouraging. One wrote to MTV, which regularly runs the spots, that the commercial
by Bon Jovi encouraged him to stop taking drugs. “Those guys were the only people I would listen
to,” wrote the high school student. “They changed my life around,” another fan wrote to
rocker Ronnie Dio. “Teachers can preach for hours about how bad drugs are and I still went out and
got high. But man, once I heard you say how stupid drugs are, I never touched them again!” So let me
know in the comment section guys do you remember seeing these rad ads in the 80's if you were a
kid back then and what were your thoughts on them and did they change what you did with your life?