Do It Now

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Text on Button DO IT NOW!
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Red text on a white background

Curl Text THE AMERICAN BADGE CO, CHICAGO ILL.
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The bold and forward message: “DO IT NOW” in red lettering on a white background conveys a sense of urgency and is a catch-all prompt. Examples with this exact phrase often appear as generic messages rather than being tied to a single organization, reflecting the late-1960s through 1980s rise in inexpensive slogan buttons. The phrase “Do it now” predates these buttons and has been reused in various contexts, from pep talks to public-awareness campaigns, which is why it cannot be linked to one specific cause. Some sources mention that the phrase became popular in early-20th-century culture (e.g., Berton Braley’s widely reprinted poem “Do It Now,” after 1915) and later appeared in public-awareness efforts like the Do It Now Foundation’s anti-drug media campaigns in the early 1970s. 

Sources

Berton Braley. (2025, June 7). In Wikipedia. Retrieved October 19, 2025, from  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berton_Braley 

Berton Braley Cyber Museum. (n.d.). Do it now. Retrieved October 19, 2025, from https://bertonbraley.com/do_it_now.htm 

National Museum of American History, Behring Center. (n.d.). Pin-back democracy. Retrieved October 18, 2025, from https://americanhistory.si.edu/explore/exhibitions/american-democracy/online/machinery-democracy/democratic-outfitting/pin-back-democracy 

Catalog ID IB0497