Looking for a way to get loads of people talking about a campaign? If all that matters is awareness, then you could probably do worse than to follow the example of South Dakota's new meth awareness campaign – as long as you don't mind the inevitable backlash.
The US state has a meth problem, and its latest approach is, at least, getting people talking, thanks to a campaign centred around a logo featuring the message, 'Meth. We're on it.' It's a clever slogan that's all about the double meaning – you can read it as a statement that it's tackling the meth problem, or an admission that everyone's on meth – and inevitably it's rubbed a lot of people up the wrong way (see our guide to logo design for ideas on getting people's attention without necessarily making them cross).
The campaign's the work of Minneapolis agency, Broadhead, which has come up with a hard-hitting logo, featuring the outline of South Dakota overlaid with the troublesome slogan, plus a number of ads featuring photos of various ordinary people combined with the same slogan; again, working that double meaning hard.
Over on the campaign's Facebook page it's already drawing plenty of ire, with commenters making it very clear that they don't approve, in the strongest possible terms. And of course there's a similar volume of outrage over on Twitter, with many commenters furious at reports that Broadhead was paid just under half a million dollars for the campaign.
I was wondering why South Dakota was randomly trending, and the answer was not disappointing. They paid an ad agency HALF A MILLION DOLLARS in taxpayer money for an anti-meth ad campaign with... THIS slogan. https://t.co/zWv3xJH2lJ pic.twitter.com/z2KICNK2ZONovember 18, 2019
Given just how much it's got people talking about it, though, it seems to have been money well spent, and South Dakota governor, Kristi Noem, has been quick to point out the campaign's effectiveness; at least from an awareness point of view.
Hey Twitter, the whole point of this ad campaign is to raise awareness. So I think that’s working... #thanks #MethWeAreOnIt⬇️⬇️⬇️https://t.co/hopPjqa95wNovember 18, 2019
This isn't the first time that South Dakota's come up with an awareness campaign that's used a double-meaning to stir up controversy, either. Back in 2014 it ran a road safety campaign with the unforgettable slogan, 'Don't jerk and drive'.
Stop sniggering at the back; clearly it was aimed at the widespread problem of people jerking the steering wheel on icy roads and crashing their cars.
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Wise words, mate (Image credit: South Dakota)
Sadly that campaign didn't quite have the impact that South Dakota hoped for, and it was withdrawn a few months later. You can learn more about the more successful meth campaign here.
Jim McCauley is a writer, performer and cat-wrangler who started writing professionally way back in 1995 on PC Format magazine, and has been covering technology-related subjects ever since, whether it's hardware, software or videogames. A chance call in 2005 led to Jim taking charge of Computer Arts' website and developing an interest in the world of graphic design, and eventually led to a move over to the freshly-launched Creative Bloq in 2012. Jim now works as a freelance writer for sites including Creative Bloq, T3 and PetsRadar, specialising in design, technology, wellness and cats, while doing the occasional pantomime and street performance in Bath and designing posters for a local drama group on the side.
