I learned it by watching you!

I learned it by watching you! was a large-scale United States anti-narcotics campaign by Partnership for a Drug-Free America. Launched in 1987, the campaign used a televised public service announcement.

The PSA features a father confronting his son in his bedroom after finding a box containing an unspecified controlled substance and drug paraphernalia. After his father angrily asks him how he learned to use drugs, the son shouts, "You, all right?! I learned it by watching you!" The narrator then intones, "Parents who use drugs have children who use drugs."

In Popular culture

The PSA was parodied in the "My Déjà Vu, My Déjà Vu" episode of Scrubs, in which J.D. talks about his coffee addiction and imagines discovering a coffee maker under the bed of his future son.

It was referenced in the 2012 film Cabin in the Woods in the opening scene.

Another parody is in the Kraft Macaroni & Cheese commercial "A Father's Lesson," in which the narrator says, "Parents who skim have kids who skim." In the 30 second version, it was extended to "Parents who skim Mac & Cheese have kids who skim Mac & Cheese".

It was parodied in the Xavier: Renegade Angel episode "Pet Siouxicide." In the episode, Xavier extracts Native American blood from an Indian burial ground and injects it into an oil baron. Later, the oil baron is seen injecting himself with Native American blood. When Xavier asks him where he learned to do that, he replies, "From you alright, I learned from watching you."

It was also parodied on an episode of The Cleveland Show.

It was referenced in the "House Call" episode of Archer: Vice on FX.

See also

• "Just Say No"
• This Is Your Brain on Drugs
• War on Drugs

External links

• The original PSA as rebroadcast in I Love the 80s.
• Official PDFA website