Comedy Central trolls HBO with non-celebrity get-out-the-vote ad

Average people wonder what John Krasinsky or Thomas the Tank Engine think they should do in PSA spoof

Published On
Nov 02, 2018

Editor's Pick

In a new get-out-the-vote ad from Comedy Central, an average guy says "How will I know I should vote..."—and then an average woman completes his thought with "... if celebrities don't tell me to?" Good question! Other average people in the ad then serve up more specific questions, such as "Does Emma Stone think I should vote?," "What about John Krasinsky?" and "Tom Holland, Tom Hardy, Thomas the Tank Engine—should I vote?"

Near the end of the spot, one of the self-described "normal people" addresses the celebrity population at large, saying "Your silence is deafening." That makes this PSA a spoof of not only all the celebrity-stuffed advocacy ads we've been seeing for years, but one particular recent get-out-the-vote ad from HBO in particular, in which all the fabulous famous people remained literally silent; see "Kumail Nanjiani, Ed Harris, Lena Dunham and others give you the voter registration staredown."

Added bonus: Comedy Central's ad tacks on a call-to-action with a screen that reads "Tag your favorite celebrity #ShouldWeVote," which has prompted at least one actual famous famous person to chime in: