In what Hollywood considers to be its most ingenious political ad campaign to date, stars like Ellen DeGeneres, Usher, Will.i.am, Forest Whitaker, Dustin Hoffman, Demi Moore, Sarah Silverman, Jonah Hill and Ashton Kutcher have joined Leonardo DiCaprio (who produced the spot) in a video released to YouTube today urging young people to register to vote.
The nearly five-minute-long pitch consists of the many celebrities sarcastically berating viewers, repeatedly sneering, “don’t vote.” The reverse psychology doesn’t end there; as Jonah Hill offers, “The economy’s in the toilet, who gives a s--t? I don’t care. I got so much money!” while a sour-faced Jennifer Aniston urges viewers to forward the video to five friends, saying, “God, I hope you have at least five friends.”
Soup Blog reporters queried 18-year-old Youngstown, Ohio, resident Danny Fosdyke on his reaction to the ad. “Well, Jessica Alba’s sex poster kinda made me want to register, but this thing is really awesome!" stated a politically thrilled Fosdyke. "I mean, a couple dozen rich, caustic celebrities pretty much telling me I'm stupid and I don’t care about the country, but they can trick me into voting by putting me down...It's like, dude—where do I sign up?! And to think I thought Hollywood stars were these holier-than-thou jerks. How wrong I was."