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"Winners Don't Use Drugs" is an anti-drug
"Winners Don't Use Drugs" is an anti-drug slogan
A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a clan, political slogan, political, Advertising slogan, commercial, religious, and other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose, with the goal of persuading members of the publi ...
that was included in arcade game
An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily games of skill and include arcade v ...
s imported by the American Amusement Machine Association (AAMA) into North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
from 1989 to 2000. The slogan appeared during an arcade game's attract mode. The messages are credited to FBI Director William S. Sessions
William Steele Sessions (May 27, 1930June 12, 2020) was an American attorney and jurist who served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas and Director of the Federal Bureau of Inve ...
, whose name appears alongside the slogan. Sessions was dismissed from the FBI in July 1993. After 1993, the slogan was attributed to "FBI Director" until the campaign was phased out in 2000.
History
The slogan was part of a long-term effort by the United States in its war on drugs started by President Richard Nixon in 1971. Part of this campaign was to publicize the message about the harm of drugs to the youth, with the FBI focusing on how to use public messaging to spread this message out widely. William S. Sessions, who became FBI Director in 1987, established the FBI's Drug Awareness Program to get these messages to reach the youth and teenagers. Sessions announced the "Winners Don't Use Drugs" program at a press event on January 10, 1989, in cooperation with the American Amusement Machine Association (AAMA), who agreed to require arcade video games to include the slogan message while in attract mode. The games '' Double Dragon'', ''John Elway's Quarterback
''John Elway's Quarterback'', also known as ''John Elway's Quarterback Challenge'' and ''John Elway's Team Quarterback'', is a 1987 football video game.
Summary
Tradewest developed ''Quarterback'' as an arcade game. In 1988 John Elway agreed to ...
'', and '' Tecmo Bowl'' were used on stage as examples for how the message would appear on the screen. AAMA executive vice president Robert Fay announced that of the 20 video game manufacturers, 17 agreed to include the message in their software for all new machines. At the time of the announcement, it had already been installed in 10,000 current machines with a prediction of reaching 100,000 of approximately 750,000 active machines by the end of 1989. A law was passed that required all imported arcade games to carry the message.
In 1989, Bob Davenport, the director of the FBI's Office of Public Affairs, was tasked by Sessions to get anti-drug public service announcements towards children. Various ideas were tried but without success. While at a dinner meeting with former FBI agent and Davenport's acquaintance Robert Fay, by then the president of the AAMA, the subject of this PSA came up. Fay's former role in the FBI had been part of a white collar White collar may refer to:
* White-collar worker, a salaried professional or an educated worker who performs semi-professional office, administrative, and sales-coordination tasks, as opposed to a blue-collar worker, whose job requires manual labor ...
crime unit who had led the investigation into a counterfeit video game ring, which led to Fay's transition to the AAMA. Fay had sway over the various companies in the AAMA due to having helped stop this counterfeit ring, and thus was able to get the AAMA to agree to include the message, once it was decided. Sessions, Davenport and Fay worked through several iterations of the slogan, eventually coming to "Winners Don't Use Drugs" as a short, uplifting message that not only applied to video games but other facets of life. The slogan was accompanied by the FBI's seal, which later helped to identify counterfeit arcade games for lacking the message, the seal, or an incorrect version of it.
The slogan was used through the 1990s, with Sessions' name replaced by simply "FBI Director" following Sessions' departure from office. By about 2000, the use of the slogan in arcade games waned, as the arcade market was waning, while the intensity of focus on the war on drugs fell.
A similar campaign called Recycle It, Don't Trash It! credited to then-EPA
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...
Administrator William K. Reilly
William Kane Reilly (born January 26, 1940) was Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under President George H. W. Bush. He has served as president of World Wildlife Fund, as a founder or advisor to several business ventures, and ...
was launched several years afterward.
In popular culture
The slogan has been parodied in the Xbox Live Arcade/PlayStation Network title '' Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game'', saying "Winners Don't Eat Meat" and in ''Futurama
''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of the professional slacker Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1000 years a ...
'' with the version "Winners don't play video games".
See also
* " Just Say No" * Seal of the FBIReferences