Drug-Impaired Driving Prevention

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Also: If You Feel Different, You Drive Different

“If You Feel Different, You Drive Different.”

Ad Council and NHTSA campaign launched in spring 2019 to challenge young men's beliefs that driving high on marijuana is safe, building on NHTSA's 2018 'If You Feel Different, You Drive Different' message.

Years: 2019–now
Country: United States
Topic: Drugs Impaired driving
Asks people to: Stop Substitute
Strategy: Fear appeal Humor Policy paired
Channel: Radio Social (paid)TV
Audience: Young adults
Young men who use marijuana and believe they drive fine (or better) when high.

Evidence

NoneUnknown

Sponsor (who paid)

Ad Council Ad Council (pro bono), campaign producer
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Federal government, partner/sponsor

Credits (who made it)

Madwell Creative, 2022 source
SXM Media (Studio Resonate) Production, 2023 source
Standard Practice Creative, 2025 source
Spark & Riot Production, 2025 source
Ad Council Creative Studio Creative source

Executions (individual ads)

Madwell PSAs (justifications for driving high) 2022 · tv
Audio PSA with SXM Media 2023 · radio
State highway safety office ad matching the tagline; creative later removed by Meta (disclaimer) 2022 · social-paid · meta-ad-library · >1M impressions · spend $9K - $10K
State highway safety office ad matching the tagline; creative later removed by Meta (disclaimer) 2021 · social-paid · meta-ad-library · >1M impressions · spend $8K - $9K
If you feel different, you drive different. Plan ahead. 2024 · social-paid · meta-ad-library · 70K - 80K impressions · spend $100 - $199

Related campaigns

Buzzed Driving Prevention 2005–now

Sources

Research notes

NHTSA first rolled out 'If You Feel Different, You Drive Different' on its own (paid) in August 2018; the Ad Council's April 2023 release says the joint campaign launched in 2019. Credits checked 2026-10-22 against fetched pages: Madwell (Beverage News, 18 January 2022, 'Madwell, the agency that developed the creative'), SXM Media's Studio Resonate (Ad Council release, 20 April 2023, 'produced by'), Standard Practice and Spark & Riot (Ad Council release, 25 November 2025: 'Tell That to Them' 'created pro bono by creative agency Standard Practice and produced by Spark & Riot'), Ad Council Creative Studio (campaign page 'Agencies' list, which also names SiriusXM and Reprise). Corrected 2026-10-22: Spark & Riot changed from creative to production and dated 2025; Standard Practice added; Madwell source moved from LBB (blocked) to Beverage News. Unverified (no page found that credits the agency): the 2019 launch agency. Links (#82) from the Ad Council cause page's Visit Campaign Site button, checked 2026-10-23.

Record cases/ad-council-drug-impaired-driving-prevention.json, updated 2026-10-23· Link to this campaign