We always appreciate an effective, hard-hitting public service announcement. And over in Arizona, some creative advertising execs have put together a moving piece about America’s opioid crisis. Truth be told, this is not a family-friendly PSA and we agree that the topic should be addressed that way. Addiction is painful, destructive and at times, terrifying; emotions all properly captured in the 60 second clip.
In fact, this newest ad has been accused of using “scare tactics” in the way it presents painkiller dependencies. But Arizona Department of Health Services Director Dr. Cara Christ fully supports it and believes it clearly drives the point home. She also added that quite a lot of resources were put into producing it, making for a conceptual, effective message.
“I will admit, it kind of has a horror movie feel to it,” Dr. Christ told the local outlet Arizona Central. “This is part of the Arizona Opioid Epidemic Act. They (the Arizona Legislature) appropriated a little over $400,000 for us to develop this educational campaign and it had to be graphic, and it had to show the law enforcement consequences of opioids.”
In the clip, a young woman is shown strung out and paranoid. Walls begin closing in on her, illustrating the trapped feelings that accompany addiction. Before you know it she is shown imprisoned inside of an opioid pill, alongside the message: “Getting In Is Easier Than Getting Out.”
Keeping true to that phrase, the PSA ends with a link to EasierInThanOut.com, which takes people to an informational page containing facts and resources regarding opioid addiction. Users can also scroll around to learn about alcoholism and marijuana dependencies.
If you happen to go to the site, you’ll notice that it is geared specifically towards teens and young adults. In fact, the ad itself will be targeting that sect; appearing on popular YouTube pages and even Snapchat. Christ added that two versions of the clip will be promoted as part of the Spring campaign. The one garnering the most attention (which we mentioned above) features a young girl, but there is also a similar commercial showing a teen boy losing control to his cravings.
These are messages that we are more than happy to promote and have included both PSA’s below for reference. We encourage everyone who reads this to share them across social media and spread the word about just damaging an opioid addiction can be.
OPIOID GIRL PSA
OPIOID BOY PSA
