Gov. Kristi Noem's campaign included television advertising, billboards, posters and a website.
The slogan? "Meth. We're On It," the Argus Leader of Sioux Falls reported.
"I do not think it means what they think it means," one person tweeted.
That was the gentlest rebuke. Many on social media wondered if the intended phrase was something like, "Meth. We're On Top Of It."
The campaign's motto features the phrase, "Meth. We're on it," over an outline of South Dakota, with people of different ages, genders and races repeating the phrase, the Argus Leader reported.
Broadhead Co., a marketing and advertising agency in Minneapolis, created the slogan, the newspaper reported. According to South Dakota's Department of Social Services, the ad agency was paid nearly $449,000 this fall to produce the campaign.
South Dakota's methamphetamine crisis is "growing at an alarming rate" and impacts every community in the state, Noem said in the campaign's public service announcement.
A new website, OnMeth.com, features resources for to help meth users seek help, KSFY reported.
“South Dakota’s meth crisis is growing at an alarming rate,” Noem said. “It impacts every community in our state and threatens the success of the next generation. It is filling our jails and prisons, clogging our court systems, and stretching our drug treatment capacity while destroying people and their families. This is our problem, and together, we need to get on it.”
The state's 2020 budget also includes $1 million for meth treatment services and more than $730,000 for school-based meth prevention programming, the Argus Leader reported.
Here is a sampling of reaction on Twitter.
This is South Dakota's new anti-meth campaign slogan. I do not think it means what they think it means. https://t.co/PI2EFxJuvR
— Lisa Gutierrez (@LisaGinKC) November 18, 2019
Hey @govkristinoem I’m an advertising major with better ideas than this. HMU https://t.co/bxdQEZueEg
— Kat Daddy (@katlynnpaasch) November 18, 2019
Oh lord. This is really real.
— Dan Goldgeier (@DanGoldgeier) November 18, 2019
'Meth. We're On It.': South Dakota spends $449K on new anti-meth ad campaign https://t.co/NTKUb93C3g via @argusleader
If you liked "Meth. I'm On It", you'll love South Dakota's 2015 ad campaign: "Why die on Mars, when you can live in South Dakota?" (Yes, I'm serious.) More on that gem here: https://t.co/GtrgHyBU7L
— Matt Shipman (@ShipLives) November 18, 2019
I mean...did the state of South Dakota need to trademark "Meth. We're on it." Like, they thought someone was going to try and steal it? Also, the official hashtags are cumbersome. #MethWeAreOnIt #ButNotLikeOnItOnIt #MoreLikeGonnaDoSomethingAboutItOnIt #GetIt #HiFromSD pic.twitter.com/1cmWmIH6jG
— Dominick Washington (@dawashington) November 18, 2019
Intern: “here’s that ad campaign you wanted.”
— Julius Pepperwood (@ADanishMan) November 18, 2019
Noem: “the one that says we’re on top of the meth problem?”
Intern: “ah” pic.twitter.com/tnjMf5o6he
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