Anti-cocaine PSAs rough on nose and heart
Pablo the Drug Mule Dog is back as the spokespooch of Britain's anti-cocaine PSA campaign. When we last saw Pablo, he'd been sliced open like a Tauntaun to transport booger sugar. But he recovered, and in the new ads he watches as a cokehead's nostrils argue with each other (I expect a few complaints to the ASA over that "butthole" comment) and a hopped-up heart beats its last. I'm still waiting for the anti-coke campaign that just shows before-and-after photos of Robert Evans. But Pablo is pretty cool. He's a lot more badass than McGruff, and has a better Web site, too. —Posted by David Kiefaber Previously on AdFreak: |
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Published on October 13, 2009 | Permalink
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Take drugs if you enjoy getting scribbled on
This PSA from mcgarrybowen, part of the Above the Influence campaign by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, is a refreshing departure from most social marketing, in that it's not condescending or hyperbolic and uses a fairly common occurrence to represent a larger problem. (They aren't exaggerating much, if this guy is any indication.) Fear of humiliation is a potent force among teens, and it will be hard for this girl to save face in the morning, even after she scrubs it clean. Shame they didn't team up with Sharpie for this ad, though. Via Animal NY. |
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Published on June 17, 2009 | Permalink
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Suburban moms hit streets in anti-drug ads
These new ads by Allen & Gerristen for the Partnership for a Drug Free America strive to empower parents to get the information they need to discuss drug use with their kids. The vignettes show what moms won't need to do: visit dealers and hang out in crack dens. (Where are the dads, tossing back a few at the local bar?) Actually, it's a reasonable strategy, but the execution is so odd, it muddles the message. Why portray the parents as bubble-headed suburbanites who can't identify crack even when they walk into a crack den? Actually, the teens in that spot look more like vampires than junkies, and the scene plays like a goofy outtake from Twilight. I know absurdity's the whole point here, but the "dealers" in the street-corner spot seem to be channeling Scott Baio's Chachi for their tough-guy/urban accents. I feel like I'm on drugs just watching it! |
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Published on April 30, 2009 | Permalink
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Mom gives birth to teen in new anti-drug ad
The target audience for this new spot from the Partnership for a Drug-Free America isn't drug-using teens. It's the mothers of teens who might tumble into that category. It's aimed at persuading moms that they're strongly influential on their kids (appearances to the contrary notwithstanding) and should make good use of that power. Still, if a kid happens to see this oddball commercial while under the influence of some illicit substance, he may imagine he's having a "bad trip" (if that's what it's still called) and decide to clean up his act forthwith. The sight of a woman giving birth to a full-fledged teenager is, after all, a bit unsettling. Almost as unsettling as the sight of a cow giving birth to a hipster. Martin/Williams of Minneapolis created the spot. |
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Published on April 2, 2009 | Permalink
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Total wankers ruin pot smoker's brain party
It's bad enough that drug users have dirty, clingy sloth creatures permanently attached to their legs. But they also have to deal with the chaotic circus going on inside their chemically addled brains. The spot above, from the anti-pot portion of the U.K.'s "Talk to Frank" anti-drug campaign (the same folks who brought you Pablo the Drug Mule Dog), shows an arcade of competing personalities jostling for attention inside one pot smoker's overtaxed noggin. Munchies and Giggles are irritating enough, and then Memory Loss, Panic Attacks and Paranoia show up, totally harshing Dr. Chill's buzz. See more of the personalities, including the charming Pukey, over at the Talk to Frank Web site. |
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Published on February 18, 2009 | Permalink
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Your filthy, furry drug habit will not go away
Pugsley of Rabbit directed this entertaining and memorable "Above the Influence" spot from McKinney for the Partnership for a Drug Free America. A stoner dude's "problem" takes the form of a shaggy humanoid creature who's with the kid all the time, causing mischief, though only his friends are aware of his existence. Teens are so sensitive to peer pressure, the idea of losing face with classmates may well prove effective. And yet, as I watch that beast drag its claws down the halls, causing no real damage to anyone or anything and generating plenty of attention for its host, my gut reaction, and this may be true for many 12- to 17-year-olds, is: Cooool. I want one. UPDATE: Above the Influence has disowned this spot, saying it "was not approved, is not being distributed anywhere
and not slated for distribution in the future." Too bad. —Posted by David Gianatasio |
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Published on February 18, 2009 | Permalink
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Pablo the Drug Mule Dog has cocaine blues
While "This is your brain. This is your brain on drugs" mostly just caused stoners to laugh, the best anti-drug PSAs can really harsh your buzz. Think of the 2002 cinema spot (not available online) from the Partnership for a Drug-Free America in which the guys pull out of the drive-thru and nail a girl on a tricycle. That was a brutal time for moviegoers. The latest U.K. anti-cocaine PSA campaign, titled "Talk to Frank," is a bummer, too. Narrated by Pablo the Drug Mule Dog, whose stomach has been sliced open to carry coke, it offers a "frank" and graphic discussion of some of the ickier effects of drug. If you want more "Frank" talk, or help for you or a friend with a drug problem, go to TalkToFrank.com, a fairly hip drug-info site. I'll pass on talking to Frank for now; I'm off to the movies. |
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Published on December 9, 2008 | Permalink
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Anti-drug ad campaign is now also anti-bug
McKinney has whipped up a handful of new Above the Influence anti-drug ads for the ONDCP starring oversized animals and insects dressed as humans. See all three ads here. The one above shows a pair of slug buddies about to do some serious lines of salt. In the others, a couple of rat-girls prepare to pop some Rat-X, and some slacker wasps get set to inhale some bug spray. The headline on each ad reads, "What's the worst that could happen?" To answer that, Copyranter points to Cecil Adams of Straight Dope fame, who suggests that, in the case of the slugs, the worst that could happen would probably involve the "hiss of desiccating slug fluids." Adams suggests a good alternative is "to put out a pie tin filled with a half inch of beer. The slugs drink the beer, pass out, and drown." But then that would probably be alcohol abuse. |
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Published on November 18, 2008 | Permalink
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Doing drugs can impair your Web browsingFor those readers who work in the advertising industry, it's highly unlikely you've ever partaken of illegal narcotics. Luckily, the Oslo Department of Health has created this handy Web tool to simulate using marijuana, cocaine and heroin. (You'll probably need to enable popups on your browser.) I, for one, was shocked to discover that using cocaine is like being blacked out at a Ministry concert. And the virtual pot experience was sadly lacking in delicious burritos. Hat tip to Osocio. |
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Published on October 28, 2008 | Permalink
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New McKinney anti-pot ads get it half rightMcKinney and the Partnership for a Drug-Free America have released the latest ad strike in the "Above the Influence" campaign. The campaign consists of a series of fake ads recruiting teens for jobs as burrito tasters, couch security guards and TV remote-control operators. The teens are sent to microsites (like this one for burrito tasting) that redirect to AboveTheInfluence.com. The kicker? Copy at the bottom reads, "Hey, not trying to be your mom, but there aren't many jobs out there for potheads." At first, I was majorly excited that they were focusing on the monetary downside of smoking pot and not on the OMG-you're-so-gonna-die-if-you-smoke-pot part. But the awesome fake recruitment ads are only part of the campaign. A separate but equal series of ads appearing in the same mags will focus on the you're-so-gonna-die aspect of drug awareness, featuring animals dressed like teens involved in life-threatening situations. In one execution, two slugs do some salt, and through the power of metaphor we are educated about the deadly nature of weed. Teens, who are of course immortal, still don't respond as well to the abstract threat of death as they do to the everyday threat of social stigma. |
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Published on October 27, 2008 | Permalink
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