The state is launching its methamphetamine awareness campaigned called “Meth. We’re On It.”
The trademarked slogan will appear on a variety of different mediums, from social media to television to billboards.
The campaign was announced as forthcoming during Governor Kristi Noem’s first state of the state address in January. It was funded by the state legislature last session.
The state contracted with Broadhead LLC out of Minneapolis, Minnesota for a total contract not to exceed over $1.4 million dollars. The contract allocates 680 thousand dollars for media placement.
Secretary for the Department of Social Services Laurie Gill says the concept is showing healthy South Dakotans who are clearly not meth users.
“But they’re taking the issue head on and they’re saying ‘We need to work together and we’re on it,’” Gill says. “That’s the message. We know that it’s edgy, but we needed to do something that’s getting everybody’s attention so that they’re aware we have a meth issue.”
The first day of the advertising campaign elicited various reactions on social media. Governor Noem tweeted saying the whole point of the ad is to raise awareness and “I think that’s working.”
Secretary Gill agrees. She says it’s doing just that.
“We needed to come up with a campaign that broke through the clutter of advertising and social media,” Gill says. “To get people to stop and think about this issue. We were after a campaign that would do that.”
The campaign also has a new website OnMeth.com, that has help resources for meth users, as well as prevention strategies for homes and schools.