“Visiting Day”: A Democracy Ad About the Moment Someone Says No
Excerpt: What kind of message might help someone inside government refuse an unlawful order at the critical moment? “Visiting Day” uses story, emotion, and legal clarity to make one idea unforgettable: a president cannot pardon state crimes.
What does it take to influence a decision that has not happened yet?
At Action This Day, we are exploring a simple but urgent question:
If someone inside a powerful institution is asked to do something unlawful—something that threatens elections, freedom, or the rule of law—what might help them say no?
One possible answer is a short video concept called “Visiting Day.”
The ad: a future regret story
The film opens in a prison visiting room.
A former federal agent sits alone under harsh lights. He is holding a photo of his children.
Super: 2035
Years earlier, he was asked to participate in an “election-related” operation. His supervisor told him:
“It’s cleared. Don’t worry—you’re protected.”
He knew something felt wrong.
But he went along.
Now his children visit him in prison. They are older. Distant. Careful.
His son asks:
“How long this time?”
The man says:
“I thought I was protecting my family.
I didn’t realize I was risking everything.”
Then comes the line that reframes the story:
“A president can’t pardon state crimes.”
Fade out.
Why this story sticks: the Heath Brothers’ six principles
The ad draws on Chip Heath and Dan Heath’s classic book, Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die.
Their framework—often remembered as SUCCESs—identifies six qualities that help ideas survive:
- Simple
- Unexpected
- Concrete
- Credible
- Emotional
- Stories
“Visiting Day” uses all six.
1. Simple
The core idea is one sentence:
A president cannot pardon state crimes.
That is the whole message.
Not a lecture. Not a policy memo. A sentence someone can remember under pressure.
2. Unexpected
Viewers expect a political ad.
Instead, they get a quiet prison scene set in the future.
The surprise is not spectacle. It is perspective.
The ad asks viewers to imagine the consequence before the decision is made.
3. Concrete
Instead of abstract phrases like “protect democracy,” the ad shows:
- A prison visiting room
- A folded photograph
- A child across the table
- A clock counting down visiting time
Concrete images make abstract risk feel real.
4. Credible
The key claim is grounded in law.
The president’s pardon power applies to federal crimes, not state crimes. Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute explains the scope of the presidential pardon power.
That legal fact matters.
If a federal worker commits a state crime, a future presidential pardon may not save them.
5. Emotional
The ad does not begin with outrage.
It begins with regret.
That matters because the intended audience may not see themselves as villains. They may see themselves as employees, parents, patriots, or people trying to keep their jobs.
So the story speaks to:
- family
- fear
- responsibility
- identity
- consequences
It asks:
What if following the order is the thing that destroys your family?
6. Stories
The ad is not an argument. It is a story.
A man faces pressure.
He makes the wrong choice.
He lives with the consequence.
Stories let people rehearse decisions before they face them.
That is why this kind of message may matter.
What Anat Shenker-Osorio adds
If the Heath Brothers explain how ideas stick, Anat Shenker-Osorio helps explain how political messages move people toward action.
She is the host of Words to Win By and the founder of ASO Communications, where her work focuses on messages that build durable, majoritarian support for freedom, justice, and democracy.
Her approach adds several useful lessons.
Don’t lead with abstractions
A phrase like “defend democracy” may be true, but it can feel vague.
Shenker-Osorio often pushes communicators toward more concrete freedom language:
They are trying to take away your freedom to vote.
That is clearer. It names what is at stake.
“Visiting Day” follows a similar logic. It does not ask a federal worker to defend an abstraction. It tells them:
If you break the law, you may be the one who pays.
Name the conflict
Strong messages usually make the conflict clear:
- Who is abusing power?
- Who is being harmed?
- Who can act?
In this story:
- The threat is unlawful executive power.
- The people at risk are voters, families, and the constitutional order.
- The potential hero is the person who refuses the illegal order.
That is a powerful shift.
The federal worker is not only a risk. They may also be the person who stops the damage.
Show agency
People need to believe their choice matters.
This ad centers one moment:
Do I follow the order, or do I refuse?
That moment is where democracy can either bend or hold.
A large and growing pro-democracy movement can help shape that moment. It can make clear that many Americans will honor people who stand with the Constitution—and that unlawful conduct may bring real consequences.
Why this matters
Authoritarian power grabs often depend on ordinary compliance.
Someone signs the form.
Someone opens the door.
Someone moves the file.
Someone follows the order.
That means democracy defense is not only about courts, elections, or Congress.
It is also about the decisions people make inside institutions when pressure arrives.
The right message, delivered early enough and clearly enough, might help someone pause.
That pause could matter.
Action This Day: What We Are Looking For
At Action This Day, we are interested in creative, evidence-based ideas that help people say no to power-grab operations at the critical moments that matter.
We are especially interested in ideas from:
- university communities
- law students and law professors
- democracy researchers
- organizers
- writers
- filmmakers
- veterans of nonviolent movements
- public servants who understand institutional pressure
We want messages, stories, videos, teach-ins, legal explainers, model legislation, and organizing strategies that make one thing unmistakably clear:
In America, loyalty to the Constitution comes before loyalty to any one leader.
If you have an idea that could help someone refuse an unlawful order, we want to hear it.
