About

"Stop It, Get Some Help" is a quote said by former professional basketball player Michael Jordan in an anti-drug public service announcement (PSA) that originally aired in May 1987. On Vine and YouTube, Jordan's PSA has been widely used as a reaction video to poke fun at cringeworthy media or express disapproval of behaviors and comments by others.

Origin

Sponsored by McDonald's and starring Michael Jordan, the anti-drug public service announcement premiered on ABC at the end of the network's anti-drug TV special program Cracked Up that originally aired on May 26th, 1987. In the minute-long video, Jordan urges teenagers to stay away from doing drugs, while pleading those with substance abusing problems to "stop it" and "get some help." The earliest digital copy of the original video was uploaded by YouTuber EightiesTV on February 4th, 2010.

Jordan: Listen, you got at least three-fourths of your life to go. That's three more lifetimes to you. So don't blow it. Don't do drugs. If you're doing it, stop it. Get some help.

Spread

During the first half of the 2010s, several duplicates of Michael Jordan's PSA video continued to surface on YouTube, and later on, Vine; On January 2nd, 2014, Viner James King uploaded a video clip combining an excerpt from Eminem's 2013 single "Rap God" and Michael Jordan's soundbite, which remains the earliest known use of the PSA clip in a parody remix video to date.

On April 23rd, 2016, YouTuber Violet Dirge^[1] uploaded an isolated video clip of Jordan saying "stop it, get some help," along with a short description explaining its intended use as a forum weapon, garnering over 220,000 views in just about four months. On May 31st, YouTuber XxWoLfxX115^[2] uploaded a video titled "Furries need to stop and get some help," racking up over 50,000 views.

On June 7th, Viner Cringe Based uploaded a video clip of a man at a grocery talking dirty to a box of Betty Crocker's "super-moist" cake, accompanied by Jordan's "stop it" soundbite. In less than two months, the clip accumulated over 2.8 million views, 74,000 likes and 2,000 comments, serving as a major amplifier for the #getsomehelp hashtag on Vine.

Throughout June and August 2016, several dozens of "stop it, get some help" remixes featuring cringeworthy videos popped up on Vine, followed by compilations of notable remixes and parodies on YouTube.^[3][4]

Search Interest

External References