Those of us who grew up in the '90s were subjected to a lot of messaging around staying away from drugs. There was the D.A.R.E. program at school, which used a chill dog and a coloring book to make drug users seem like a villain from a Care Bears movie (I strongly suggest you click that link). And there was the famous Rachael Leigh Cook-freaks-out-on-an-innocent-egg-with-a-frying-pan PSA. Drugs = very, very bad. Got it. Stop scaring me.
But the Philadelphia Police Department is taking a different approach. To get the message across, they unearthed a clip from a 1991 Saved by the Bell episode (because that show is super relevant to today's young people), in which Zack says: "In one word, would I use dope? Nope." Nice zinger, Morris. But then it gets even weirder; a poorly cropped photo of Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey floats over the face of NBC executive Brandon Tartikoff, while an abrupt voiceover introduces him. It's accidentally genius in all of its low-budget glory.
The Philly PD’s social media manager, Sgt. Eric Gripp, originally wanted to replace the entire cast with members of the force, but packed schedules got in the way. “I just got tired of waiting and crudely pasted the commissioners face over the original video,” he told the NY Daily News. Okay, this dude sounds awesome. How many times have you been fed up while working on a group project? "Too many" is the only answer. Dear Mr. Gripp, on behalf of the entire Internet, I thank you for this and commend your go-getter attitude.
If you enjoyed that weirdness, you'll also probably like what the Philly Police Department did with this super long Sizzler ad:
