Is it too late for them to ask for a refund? Because that’s pretty bad. On the upside, if they were looking to get people talking about the problem… congrats! It worked a little TOO well.
But was turning an entire state into a laughing stock worth it? And how does South Dakota’s tourism board feel about it?
You might think that a half-million-dollar marketing campaign for a drug use PSA would have foreseen the possibility of this slogan going sideways on them.
What happened? Did they skip the focus-group testing?
Did they think their idea was so clever that they rushed ahead?
What do you think, are we being too harsh?
https://twitter.com/diannaeanderson/status/1196501054197649413
https://twitter.com/lachlan/status/1196538726257692682?s=20
Their Governor thinks it was a success.
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. The campaign’s motto features the phrase, “Meth. We’re on it,” over an outline of South Dakota, and the ad and posters feature people of differing in ages and races saying, “I’m on meth.”
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.
“This is our problem and together, we need to get on it,” Noem said.
…But Noem declared the campaign a success because the mission of the campaign was to raise awareness and get people talking about being part of the solution, not just the problem, when it comes to the state’s meth epidemic.
The campaign is doing that, she said in a statement on Monday afternoon. She added that they hope to emphasize that meth is an issue that affects everyone. Meth isn’t someone else’s problem, and it’s critical that fighting meth and extending hope to meth users becomes a part of daily conversations, she said.
“This a bold, innovative effort like the nation has never before seen,” she said.
Source: ArgusLeader
Could there have been any unintended consequences of their messaging?
Oh yeah. Like making it sound like the entire state is strung out on Meth, maybe?
Meth, she’s on it. https://t.co/7rIm785Ofi
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) November 18, 2019
Ad agency on it! https://t.co/tiYA9P37PR
— Neil Eaves (@neil_eaves) November 19, 2019
https://twitter.com/Cini_in_abottle/status/1196606167344189440
Phrasing.https://t.co/VIgjjJxVA5
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) November 18, 2019
South Dakota: Meth. We’re on it.
Me and my boys: pic.twitter.com/PljRyoGQdJ
— Ramp Capital (@RampCapitalLLC) November 19, 2019
This wasn’t their first foray into unusual advertising.
A brief history of ad campaigns by the State of South Dakota;
2014: ‘Don’t Jerk and Drive’
2019: ‘Meth. We’re On It.’ pic.twitter.com/CyC7ndqcus
— Adam ⚾️ (@GradyTripp00) November 18, 2019
The mockery went international.
‘Meth. We’re on it’: Oddly-worded #SouthDakota drug awareness campaign ‘breaks bad’ on social mediahttps://t.co/GJ2AWvYDl2 pic.twitter.com/iNQkPv8IGV
— RT (@RT_com) November 18, 2019
Oh, no. It seems like the rest of South Dakota's anti-drug campaigns are just as bad as the "Meth. We're On It." campaign. pic.twitter.com/3BDnrvkoms
— Mike Beauvais (@MikeBeauvais) November 18, 2019
When your head of state is a compleat joke and launches an anti-meth campaign called "Meth. We're on it".. holy shit. What a joke pic.twitter.com/bqHgAZLhxQ
— AllissaLee (@AllissaLee2) November 19, 2019
