This Resurfaced Yu-Gi-Oh PSA is Almost Too Cringeworthy

In the early 2000s, the United States Office of National Drug Control Policy conducted the “My Anti-Drug” campaign which featured promotional materials featuring kids, and even popular TV characters state that “(Blank)” was their anti-drug, filling in the gap with things like soccer, courage, and more. Hilariously enough, the 4Kids English language release of Yu-Gi-Oh was roped into this campaign as well and had the Pharaoh in a short PSA about how the honor in dueling was his anti-drug.

This promo was featured on a ton of flash sites around that time, and is now one of the most hilariously infamous PSAs from that time. Catching fans by surprise as it imagines a world where not only drugs exist in the Yu-Gi-Oh! world but that Yugi Muto and his friends were actively avoiding the use of marijuana and other drugs.

This PSA has resurfaced online thanks to Vector7707 on Reddit, and hilariously reminds fans just how strange it was to hear Dan Green (the voice behind the Pharaoh in the series) openly talking about saying no to drugs with lines like, “My friends and I have faced many battles, and we have dueled without drugs. I wouldn’t be the world’s best duelist if I smoked marijuana.”

The original Yu-Gi-Oh anime is still what many fans consider to be the best in the entire franchise, and it would probably have been a lot stranger if the Pharaoh had lines like “I must stay healthy and keep my friends close if I want to defeat my opponents’ monsters. I will never dishonor myself or my friends by using drugs. That’s playing a game I can’t win.”

Anti-drug campaigns and cartoons used to be all the rage for quite a long time, but as debates cropped up as to the effectiveness of these messages they began to target demographics in newer ways. There are very few direct PSA messages from anime or cartoons like this anymore, so it’s definitely a nostalgic walk through memory lane.

What do you think of this Yu-Gi-Oh anti-drug PSA? Were you one of the fans that saw it online back in the day? Do you think the anime should launch another one of these PSAs in the future? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or talk to me directly about all things anime and other cool things @Valdezology on Twitter!