A headline in the Sioux Falls Argus Leader says it all: South Dakota says, ‘Meth. We’re On It,’ and Twitter asks, ‘Are you guys OK?’
South Dakota's new anti-meth campaign is catching a lot of attention nationwide, and people are now asking "Hey, what's up with South Dakota?"
Gov. Kristi Noem launched her new anti-meth campaign on Monday to bring awareness to the meth epidemic in South Dakota that will include a new TV ad, billboards, posters and website.
South Dakota's meth crisis is "growing at an alarming rate" and impacts every community in the state, Noem said in the campaign's public service announcement.
"From national news reporters to extremely confused South Dakotans," the Argus Leader article distills a selection of the best tweets.
Elsewhere in the Argus Leader, we learn:
Broadhead Co., a marketing and ad agency in Minneapolis, created the "Meth. We're On It." campaign. The state's Department of Social Services has paid the agency just short of $449,000 so far this year, according to the state's finances website, open.sd.gov. The state's contract with Broadhead, effective until May 31, 2020, states that the contract shouldn't exceed $1.4 million.
How's that cash working out? Cox Media's Bob D'Angelo writes in 'Meth: We're On It': South Dakota's anti-drug campaign draws laughs from social media:
South Dakota's governor announced a new anti-meth campaign Monday, but the wording of the slogan designed to stop the rise of the drug's use has residents confused -- and social media is having a field day.
Gov. Kristi Noem's campaign included television advertising, billboards, posters and a website.
The slogan? "Meth. We're On It," the Argus Leader of Sioux Falls reported.
"I do not think it means what they think it means," one person tweeted.
That was the gentlest rebuke. Many on social media wondered if the intended phrase was something like, "Meth. We're On Top Of It."
The campaign's motto features the phrase, "Meth. We're on it," over an outline of South Dakota, with people of different ages, genders and races repeating the phrase, the Argus Leader reported. . . .
Philly Voice's Michael Tanenbaum writes in South Dakota's bizarre anti-meth campaign draws ridicule:
An effort to combat South Dakota's epidemic of methamphetamine addiction went awry on Monday following the rollout of an oddly-framed ad campaign.
Gov. Kristi Noem helped launched the new anti-meth program with a flourish: "Meth. We're On It."
. . .At the bottom of one of the state's posters, there's a call to action that makes at least some sense of the language that was used.
"There's a problem in South Dakota and we all need to get on it," the poster reads. "Because together we can get meth out of here."
By "get on it," the campaign evidently means "get on" addressing the problem. Sometimes being concise is not the way to go.
South Dakota's Department of Social Services paid Minneapolis-based advertising firm Broadhead Co. $449,000 in taxpayer money to develop the anti-meth campaign this fall.
The state is dealing with high incarceration rates tied to meth dealing and distribution, overcrowded rehab facilities and an alarming rate of methamphetamine use among teenagers.
Broadhead Co.'s campaign includes a TV ad, website, billboards and posters.
"It's evident there's a need for an aggressive approach to reduce use of the devastating drug," South Dakota Social Services director Laurie Gill said in a statement, according to The Argus Leader. "This is a movement to educate South Dakotans on the signs of addiction, the treatment resources that are available and how to implement prevention techniques in their homes and among their communities."
The general reaction to the ad campaign would suggest it's not as effective as Gill wants to believe, unless total volume of ridicule and mentions is all they were really using to define success. . . .
Apparently Noem considers "total volume of ridicule and mentions" to define success. Around 5 p.m., the Argus Leader reported in Noem: South Dakota's 'We're on meth' anti-drug campaign is working:
People across the nation are talking about it Monday: South Dakota is on meth.
The buzz on both national news and social media focused on a new anti-drug ad campaign led by Gov. Kristi Noem.
The tagline? "Meth. We're on it"
Noem launched the campaign to bring awareness to the meth epidemic in South Dakota, and the ad going viral on its first day shows that it's already a success.
"The mission of the campaign is to raise awareness – to get people talking about how they can be part of the solution and not just the problem," Noem told the Argus Leader Monday afternoon. "It is working." . . .
Why, bless her little heart.
We're curious who living in South Dakota was oblivious to the state's meth crisis.
This isn't the first time South Dakota has paid for a strange media frame. Cory Allen Heidelberger writes in Kristi Noem Says We’re on Meth:
“Meth. We’re on it,” says Governor Kristi Noem in this morning’s press release.
Let me guess: the folks who came up with that slogan for our latest anti-drug campaign are the same tweakers who thought it would be an efficient and effective use of South Dakota tax dollars to tell motorists “Don’t Jerk and Drive” and to compare South Dakota’s standard of living to that on Mars.
The Governor’s press release claims that the new OnMeth.com website and the impending ads on TV, radio, social media, and billboards (have fun being a business stuck under a billboard that shouts “We’re on meth!”) will include “impactful visuals of real South Dakotans” that “simply but powerfully tell the story that meth is everyone’s problem….” That line sounds like Noem’s penners lifted it straight from the marketing agency’s bid blurb. Barf.
Governor Noem says this new campaign “aims to bring awareness to those who need help and friends and family of those who need help, while connecting community members who want to combat the issue locally.”
The slogan certainly brings awareness to those in the Governor’s Office who need help with public relations.
Admitting That a Problem Exists is the First Step. Please, Governor Noem, enough with the denial. The viral reaction isn't about meth, it's about "those in the Governor’s Office who need help with public relations."
It's not a win to see headlines like Buzzfeed's "Meth. We're On It." Is A New Antidrug Campaign In South Dakota. Seriously.
Image: When we lived in the Missouri Ozarks many years ago, we were stunned to see how meth aged its users. Nothing's changed, as this image of young Hopalong Cassidy IV, 22, of East Broken Pump Handle, South Dakota, illustrates.
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