Downtown for Democracy, the cultural Super PAC, is pleased to announce the release of a series of videos that will run through the election in key swing states and congressional districts throughout the United States.  The series of ads are creative solutions intended to offer stark contrast to the typical style and tone of political ads, speaking directly to voters.  Without advocating for any specific candidates, ads encourage voters to select candidates who will protect their rights and support issues that are important to them.

The videos and ads include a film, MY VOTE,  created by artist Marilyn Minter starring actress Amber Heard, that sends a message to women across America, asking them to vote to preserve their right to make autonomous decisions about their own bodies. Minter filmed among her signature mysterious steamy scenery.  We glimpse Heard tracing her fingers across misty condensation on glass to spell out, “My body. My mind. My Rights. My vote.”, with a haunting soundtrack by indie singer-songwriter Julia Holter.  The simplicity of the message resonates amid provocative color-saturated film that both deconstructs and challenges the sex-sell of commercial advertising.  The video is an urgent call-to-action for women to speak up, and make their voice heard to stop extremist politician’s efforts to restrict their freedoms.  Minter says “Just watching the news in recent years it has become apparent that right wing radicals are chipping away at Roe vs Wade, hoping to completely overturn it.  I never expected this to happen in my lifetime.  It seems quite urgent right now for women to vote to protect their rights.  I was honored to have an opportunity to speak directly to women by making this video.” The video will run as a direct ad purchase in swing states. The campaign was produced by Downtown for Democracy in support of Planned Parenthood.

Downtown for Democracy also teamed up with indie San Francisco musician Thao Nguyen of Thao and The Get Down Stay Down, and director Linda Mai Green to create Ballad to the Ballot,  a video encouraging young Vietnamese Americans to vote. Long known as reliable GOP supporters, Vietnamese Americans are the only Asian ethnic group in America leaning toward Trump in recent polls, primarily over 50 year-olds.  The video aims to entice the younger, more liberal-leaning generation to vote.  Evan Hutchison, Downtown for Democracy’s Political Director says “Asian American voters are thought to be pivotal in 2020, especially in states such as Texas.  Houston and its surrounding counties remain home to one of the largest concentrations of the Vietnamese-American population in the US.  Making any progress within this group could push the Democrats closer to the tipping point.”  

The video is inspired by and is an homage to Paris By Night, a vibrant variety show that was a staple in Vietnamese homes throughout the diaspora and beloved across generations.  Born and raised in Northern Virginia to refugees, Thao grew up watching the program with her parents and grandmother.  Of its significance, she says, “The only Asian (let alone Vietnamese) performers I ever saw on screen visited me via Paris By Night VHS tapes. It was such an integral part of my home life, such a pillar of my formative soundscape I took for granted that a group of people who could no longer live in their homeland would have created a cultural touchstone, an enduring entity that helps its audience remember things it doesn’t want to forget.  In many ways, this Get Out The Vote song and video is part of my ongoing effort to reconnect to my roots and community. I want to be a part of the mighty galvanizing effort incumbent upon us to move forward.”  Creative Director Courtney Saunders adds “This get-out-the-vote campaign is a fresh, compelling and ultimately joyful homage to Vietnamese American culture. By celebrating the cultural and political contributions of this vital community, the video acts as a rejection of the xenophobia that has come from the White House for the last four years."  Thao wears traditional ao dai-inspired dresses from the Atelier of Vietnamese American fashion designer Thai Nguyen of the Netflix show Say I Do. Downtown for Democracy teamed up with progressive Vietnamese American Organization PIVOT on the campaign, which is running on local Vietnamese TV in all 50 states, and in social media across the US.

Power to the Women is a series of ads produced by Downtown for Democracy with creative director Courtney Saunders, a continuation of a campaign launched in 2018 for the midterm elections.   The campaign represents an effort to speak to young women whose rights are under assault, through a branded, emotive, positive ad campaign to motivate young women to get to the polls en masse. The multi-platform digital political ad campaign is aimed at voters 18-35, in targeted congressional districts.  The campaign utilizes influential female photographers, featuring diverse portraits of young Americans.  Unifying messaging urges these women to organize and vote RISE UP. WOMEN ALL IN, 2020 is a video directed by Danielle Levitt featuring the women of the Chicago Multicultural Dance school,  scored by the anthemic song, "Woman" by Cat Power, with Lana Del Rey.  Additional gif ads produced by Downtown for Democracy include photography by Petra Collins, Jenny Gage + Tom Betterton, Sophie Elgort, Shaniqwa Jarvis and Melodie McDaniel.

PIVOT is a 501c4 nonprofit whose mission is to engage and empower Vietnamese Americans for a just and diverse America. Our community of activists and supporters are spread across 25 states. In 2017, hundreds of progressive Vietnamese Americans from around the nation formed PIVOT, the first national progressive Vietnamese American organization, committed to fighting for a just and diverse America. As refugees and children of refugees, PIVOT members were committed to ensuring that come election-time, their community would not be left on the sidelines or misled with divisive misinformation.  For more information, visit www.pivotnetwork.org.

Downtown for Democracy aspires to motivate activism and voter participation through image, word, music, and all other forms of creativity.  It seeks to remind fellow citizens of ideals that bind us as a nation: liberty and equality.  We believe that now is the time to unite and fight, to protect the idealism of our country’s beginnings and to elect politicians who will resolutely do the same. Downtown for Democracy uses creative capital, raising funds to be spent in key congressional districts to get out the progressive vote. Founded in 2003 as a cultural PAC, Downtown for Democracy participated in several election cycles, and was revived in 2017 after a hiatus.  In 2020 Downtown for Democracy founded WeeklySenator.org, a voter education and crowdfunding site designed to bundle small donors in upcoming Senate races.  

For more information and viewing Downtown for Democracy ad campaigns, visit downtown4democracy.org.