Why Some Anti-Drug Campaigns Miss The Mark

For many years, anti-drug campaigns have been a prevalent part of most media sources. Television shows often have commercials paid for by anti-drug campaigns. Billboards in most major cities carry anti-drug ads.

Radio programs, magazines, even bus benches all hold major marketing real estate for the anti-drug camp. Even with all these attempts to advertise the anti-drug message, however, many studies are finding anti-drug campaigns highly ineffective. How could this be?

Who Creates The Campaign

One reasons anti-drug ads may not achieve their desired effect is that the people creating the content may know less about the experience of a drug user than actual drug users. Studies have shown that in general, people who use a certain drug are generally fairly well read in terms of the side effects and dangers of that drug. This means a few things for anti-drug campaigns.

The first effect that this gap in information has is that ads meant to deter people, especially younger people, from doing drugs may read false. If a young person sees something in a commercial that does not match up to their own experience around drugs, they may experience mistrust towards anti-drug agencies. They may simply not process much of the information that is given to them as evidence of the negative effect of drugs.

A Common Misconception

Another way these commercials may be failing is by assuming that the reason people begin using or continue to use is that they are simply misinformed about the dangers of drugs. The fact that users tend to be more informed than non-users, suggests that this method of deterring users is not effective because simply knowing about the dangers of drugs is not an effective deterrent on it’s own.

If facts alone were enough to stop a person from using, the users who researched the dangers of drugs would in theory stop using on their own. It may be much more effective for anti-drug campaigns to consider taking an angle that encourages users to challenge the way that they view drugs. Starting a conversation in which an addict may introduced to thoughts about using or encouraged to question their current emotions around using or beginning to use may be much more effective.

Addicts Are Tough To Reach

If an addict feels that they are being talked at in an ad, they may consciously or subconsciously reject what is being said to them. Some commercials may come off as preachy or condescending and thus risk being “shut out” by the addicts they are attempting to reach. Commercials that, tonally, feel like more of a dialogue and assume a level of intelligence in an addict are much more likely to effectively lead a user to consider their choices.

Even people who are not currently using but are at risk of starting to use are much more likely to be receptive to ads that encourage thought rather than telling a person how to think or act. It is difficult to say what exactly makes an anti-drg campaign effective, but reviewing the current approach may be very beneficial.