Controversial ad campaign has caught national attention
by Parker Schlenker, Blue Ink
As we all probably know, South Dakota recently released their new anti-meth campaign, which caused a multitude of emotions, including aggravation and confusion.
The title of the campaign, “Meth. We’re On It”, caught many South Dakotans and others around the country by surprise with a name that could be easily misunderstood.
Many jokes spread around Twitter and other social media about the campaign. Most will take the name of the campaign and assume that South Dakota has a massive meth problem and that everyone in South Dakota is on meth, when the intended meaning of the campaign is to say that we are on it, as in taking care of the problem and trying to stop it from spreading.
Not only is there controversy on the topic of the title and commercial, but other South Dakota residents are more concerned about the amount of money the state and its taxpayers put into the making of the ad and who it was paid to. South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem launched the $449,000 campaign, which was made by a Minnesota company.
Junior Jake Schroeder said, “I think South Dakota could have used the money to actually prevent the use of meth instead of paying it to make the ad.”
The controversial wording has made national headlines, including being the punchline of multiple late-night talk show hosts. But South Dakota has said the ad is doing what it is supposed to, getting people to talk about the issue.
