A campaign in South Dakota trying to raise awareness about methamphetamine use in the state is getting blowback from social media for its awkwardly phrased tagline: “Meth. We’re On It.”
On Monday, the state’s awareness campaign was launched and will appear on television commercials, radio ads, social media, and billboards. The logo for the campaign features a yellow outline of the state with “Meth. We’re On I.t” written inside of it.
While the intentions of the campaign are obviously good, the tagline definitely elicited reactions from people.
https://twitter.com/HoustonMees/status/1196567217820835840
Meth. we’re on it
— BRYCEWOLLMANN!!! (@TheBigAndSexy70) November 19, 2019
2 meth 2 on it
Meth: Tokyo drift
Meth on it
Meth 5
Meth. were on it 6
Were on it 7
The fate of the Meth
Hobbs and Shaw
Meth were on it 9
When you see the South Dakota anti drug campaign slogan is “Meth. We’re on it” pic.twitter.com/phZAITFwHJ
— Bragg (@Braggasnoruss) November 18, 2019
https://twitter.com/HannMarie21/status/1196516548162334720
The state of South Dakota spent $500k on an ad campaign to let everyone know we’re on meth pic.twitter.com/TjAycDtjut
— cayne (@c0mic_sans) November 18, 2019
“Can anyone in this room think of any possible way this slogan could be ridiculed on social media?”
— Matt Schick (@ESPN_Schick) November 18, 2019
**everyone shakes their head “NO.”**
“Okay. Let’s do it. Congrats everyone.” pic.twitter.com/iCpNMVMkOD
Others pointed out that this isn’t the first time South Dakota has had a brush with an awkwardly phrased campaign. In 2014, the state launched a “Don’t Jerk And Drive” campaign about driving in the winter.
While we focus on South Dakota’s “Meth. We’re on it.” ad campaign, we should not forget the state’s failed “Don’t Jerk and Drive” campaign from 2014.https://t.co/hFciHO5Qc7 pic.twitter.com/KQLpngeTbO
— Cooper Lund (@cooperlund) November 18, 2019
A brief history of ad campaigns by the State of South Dakota;
— Adam ⚾️ (@GradyTripp00) November 18, 2019
2014: ‘Don’t Jerk and Drive’
2019: ‘Meth. We’re On It.’ pic.twitter.com/CyC7ndqcus
But Gov. Kristi Noem (R) defended the campaign in a series of tweets on Monday, implying that the social media response was actually helping raise awareness for the campaign.
“Meth is IN SD. Twitter can make a joke of it, but when it comes down to it – Meth is a serious problem in SD. We are here to Get. It. OUT,” Noem wrote on Monday.
Meth is IN SD. Twitter can make a joke of it, but when it comes down to it – Meth is a serious problem in SD. We are here to Get. It. OUT. ❌https://t.co/xtdQB4MVRO
— Governor Kristi Noem (@GovKristiNoem) November 18, 2019
Noem later replied to a tweet that said the social media response was what the ad agency behind it wanted, writing: “Exactly! #winning.”
Exactly! #winning https://t.co/GcBhICJrbd
— Governor Kristi Noem (@GovKristiNoem) November 19, 2019
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