This Is Your Brain On Rachael Leigh Cooke

First, allow me to say that this :30 PSA is enough to make me never want to invite Rachael Leigh Cooke over to cook. Or do anything in my kitchen, for that matter.



The PSA was sponsored by the infamous Office of National Drug Control Policy. You know, those guys who do the PSAs about pot where the dog is so very disappointed with the kid smoking a joint. Or the one where the kid is flattened like a pancake because of weed. Or the one where the kid smokes pot and then has to take off like a thousand t-shirts. Yeah, you know them. Well, unlike their other attempts, this one is actually a PSA that's not against weed, it's against the worst drug of them all: heroin.

This is my favorite anti-drug PSA of all time for a number of reasons. First, Rachael Leigh Cooke is hot. Second, it is quite possibly the most effective PSA I've seen. The way they start out slow and cliché then ramp up the intensity always leaves me silent and stunned when I'm done watching. It has quite the emotional appeal: just look how angry she is when she's smashing the kitchen to pieces. The metaphor of the egg at first falls flat, but as she begins to shatter everything around her and calls out what she is shattering (Friends, dreams, future, etc.) you start to see the picture. The intensity displayed by Cooke is what sells the whole thing.

All PSA writers should take note: this is how you communicate a message to someone. The short message: Don't Do Heroin. The long message: You Will Royally F%$k Up Your Life If You Do Heroin. I had never really ever considered doing heroin, but after seeing this, I'm sure as hell never even letting the thought cross my mind. Age-wise, I think this PSA can appeal to all age groups. Mindset-wise, I believe this PSA will appeal to people like me who usually roll their eyes and scoff at the cutesy/clever-but-really-not-clever slogans that anti-drug PSAs try to use (I'm looking at you, cartoon dog), because it's not trying to be clever or witty about the message. This is as in-your-face as it gets, and it's very effective.

Oh, and it helps to have a super hot actress as your spokesperson.