WINNERS DON'T USE DRUGS - Games and PSA, Hand-in-Hand

It’s no secret that video games have a debatable image among the common populace. From the second it was founded, continuing until now, the media of interactive entertainment is oftentimes closely related to juvenile delinquency and things of the sort. It doesn’t mean, however, that its history is all bad. To analyze this, let’s rewind a bit back to what most people would say the “Golden Age” of video games—in the 1990s, a time where gaming technology become immensely revolutionalized. 

In a time where video game consoles are considered a luxury, one type of business emerged—arcade gaming. These rectangle-shaped human-sized boxes stood proudly side by side, in arcade game centers decorated with bright neon lights. Available to be played at the cost of merely a single coin, these establishments quickly planted its roots in America. For those without a personal game console at home, these centers are akin to finding an oasis in the middle of a desert. And, most of all, these places quickly became the prime meeting place for the youth, far and away from their parents’ supervision. 

To reiterate, this is America in the 1990s. The one thing the public feared the most was the use of drugs, considered relatively new at the time. Various methods were used to implant the message of how narcotics are dangerous. At a glance, the appearance of arcades didn’t help the problem a single bit—being crowded places without any supervision. However, the government at the time saw things in a different light. 

How they attract the youths like moths to a fire made arcades the perfect candidate to be a medium for the anti-narcotics campaign. Soon enough, the screens of the arcade that displays the demonstration of the game while not played would sometimes shift into a display of the logo of F.B.I., with a bold slogan underneath it; “Winners Don’t Do Drugs”. Clicking instantly with the mind of the gamers, these message prove to be more direct and approachable than the usual method of socialization through pamphlets. 

The idea itself was conceived by the director of F.B.I. at the time, William S. Sessions, to Bob Davenport, to make an anti-drugs PSA aimed for the children of America. He then met Bob Fay, the head of American Amusement Machine Association, which as the name implies, produced arcade machines. They worked together, and the rest was history. 

The famous PSA continued well into the year 2000. Nowadays, arcade centers hasn’t really been the talk of the town, with personal game consoles being more affordable with time. However, players of the arcades would still vividly remember the message, as a rather intriguing approach, linking entertainment and PSA, by the higher-ups in order to fight against drugs misusage, and as a fact that they, the winners, didn’t need to use drugs.