Celebrity couple Orlando Bloom and Katy Perry have traveled to a dystopian future set in 2055 for an ad for anti-corruption organization RepresentUs that urges people to save voting rights or suffer a world where chaos reigns supreme.
In “Transmissions from the Future” Perry and Bloom are aged and disheveled as they frantically issue a dire warning for Americans about the future of democracy if the U.S. Congress does not pass the voting rights bill For The People Act.
“You are our only hope. The America you know doesn’t exist in our future. Democracy is dead. We have no voice,” says Bloom’s character in the ad, broadcast from an underground bunker where he and Perry are attempting to signal back to 2021.
The For the People Act would put a stop to the 389 anti-voter bills in 48 states that lawmakers have introduced since March. The bill would also end partisan gerrymandering, secure and modernize U.S. elections and halt big money’s control of politics, according to the organization. The Senate is on track to consider the bill next week.
“The For the People Act is the single most important piece of legislation of our lifetimes, and 70% of the American people support it. It must pass—or we risk all of the freedoms promised by American democracy,” said Bloom in a statement. “No matter what issue you care about, it hinges on the For the People Act’s passage. I am proud to work with RepresentUs to bring attention to this bill at a time when the stakes have never been higher.”
Added Perry in a statement: “As we saw most recently in Georgia and Texas, politicians are attacking our freedom to vote through passing laws that make it harder for seniors, veterans, communities of color, and rural voters to cast their ballots. Time is running out to stop their efforts. I urge you to call your senator immediately and tell them to vote in favor of the For the People Act.”
At the end of the ad, RepresentUs urges people to call their senators and demand they pass the For the People Act.
For the campaign, RepresentUs collaborated with director Jake Kasdan (Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Bad Teacher) and creative agency Oxcart Assembly.
RepresentUs previously ran a campaign before last year’s election that made deepfakes of authoritarian leaders Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un issuing ominous pronouncements about the dangers of voter suppression and manipulated elections.