"Winners Don't Use Drugs" is an anti-drug

slogan A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a clan or a political, commercial, religious, or other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose, with the goal of persuading members of the public or a more defined target group ...

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 game of skill, games of skill and in ...

s imported by the American Amusement Machine Association (AAMA) into

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from 1989 to 2000. The slogan appeared during an arcade game's

attract mode Since the origin of video games in the early 1970s, the video game industry, the players, and surrounding culture have spawned a wide range of technical and slang terms. 0–9 A ...

. The messages are credited to

FBI Director The director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), a United States federal law enforcement agency, and is responsible for its day-to-day operations. The FBI director is appointed for a ...

William S. Sessions William Steele Sessions (May 27, 1930June 12, 2020) was an American attorney and jurist who served as a United States federal judge, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas and the four ...

, whose name appears alongside the slogan. Sessions was dismissed from the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

in July 1993. After 1993, the slogan was attributed to "FBI Director" until the campaign was phased out in 2000. However, the phrase would be less commonly used in arcade games by 1995, and was afterwards only released in, at best, one new arcade game per year before 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 Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

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 game An arcade video game is an arcade game that takes player input from its controls, processes it through electrical or computerized components, and displays output to an electronic monitor or similar display. All arcade video games are coin-oper ...

s to include the slogan message while in

attract mode Since the origin of video games in the early 1970s, the video game industry, the players, and surrounding culture have spawned a wide range of technical and slang terms. 0–9 A ...

. The games ''

Double Dragon is a beat 'em up video game series originally developed and published by Technōs Japan. It began with the release of the arcade game '' Double Dragon'' in 1987. The series features twin martial artists, Billy and Jimmy Lee, as they fight again ...

'', '' John Elway's Quarterback'', 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. In 1989, Bob Davenport, the director of the FBI's Office of Public Affairs, was tasked by Sessions to get anti-drug

public service announcement A public service announcement (PSA) is a message in the public interest disseminated by the media without charge to raise public awareness and change behavior. Oftentimes these messages feature unsettling imagery, ideas or behaviors that are des ...

s 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 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. The shift from George H.W. Bush to

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

as U.S. President also saw a dramatic shift in the desire to maintain the same national anti-drug strategy, opting to instead have less federal-based enforcement and more enforcement based on state and local laws. The "Winners Don't Use Drugs" slogan would lose influence by 1995, when it was only used in two arcade games, and would be only be used for one arcade game released in the years 1996, 1997 and 1999. 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 Administrator William K. Reilly was launched several years afterward.

In popular culture

The slogan has been parodied in the 2010 video game '' Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game'', saying "Winners Don't Eat Meat" in reference to vegan Todd Ingram, and in ''

Futurama ''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company and later revived by Comedy Central, and then Hulu. The series follows Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1 ...

'' with the version "Winners don't play video games".

References

{{Anti-drug ad campaigns 1989 introductions Anti-drugs public service announcements Video game culture History of drug control in the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation Public service announcements of the United States 1990s in video gaming 1990s in the United States

History

In popular culture

See also

References