▶Videoyoutube.comDetect to Protect
“Detect to protect. Even occasional cocaine use can be deadly.”
Erie County Department of Health (Buffalo, US-NY) harm-reduction campaign launched July 23, 2024 and paid for with opioid settlement funds, urging people who use drugs, especially cocaine, to test them for fentanyl. It features local residents and pastors, speaks to Black residents and older adults hit hardest by cocaine-fentanyl deaths, and ran on radio, print, targeted digital and social ads and a community toolkit through December 2025.
- Years
- 2024–2025
- Reach
- 9.4M impressions as reported“9.4 million social impressions, 5.5 million display, 2.2 million streaming audio and 1.8 million streaming video impressions;”
- Country
- United States
- Budget
- $1 million contract with Impact Marketing over two years (Erie County release, 14 June 2024); the 2022 settlement plan set an 'Initial Cost: $1,000,000' for a multi-year anti-opioid messaging campaign.
- Topic
- DrugsHarm reductionOpioids
- Asks people to
- RecognizeStart
- Strategy
- Simple instructionTestimonialTrusted messenger
- Channel
- OutdoorPrintRadioSocial (paid)
- Audience
- AdultsGeneral publicOlder adultsPeople who use cocaine and other drugs at risk of fentanyl exposure; Black and African American residents; older adults. Messages shaped by focus groups and interviews with community members, providers, people with lived experience and outreach staff.
Evidence
Self-reportedUnknown
Agency-reported (Impact Marketing + Communications project page) for the first eight months: 133,000+ visits to the county opioid resource website; fentanyl test strip orders up 374%, Narcan kit orders up 236%, xylazine test strip orders up 1,796%; 9.4 million social impressions, 5.5 million display, 2.2 million streaming audio and 1.8 million streaming video impressions; Healthcare Advertising Award (best digital campaign), Gold MUSE and Gold Viddy awards. Baselines and comparison periods not given. The county said messages would be 'reviewed and refreshed regularly'.
Sponsor (who paid)
- Erie County Department of Health State local government, funder
- New York opioid settlement funds (Erie County share) Settlement funded, funder
Credits (who made it)
- Impact Marketing + Communications Creative, 2024-2025 source
- iHeartMedia (UP team), subcontractor to Impact Media, 2024-2025 source
Executions (individual ads)
- Detect to Protect - AA'Raeya Sunshine :30 2025 · social-paid · youtube
- Detect to Protect - AA'Raeya Sunshine :15 2025 · social-paid · youtube
- Detect to Protect - Pastor Kinzer Pointer :30 2025 · social-paid · youtube
- Detect to Protect - Pastor Kinzer Pointer :15 2025 · social-paid · youtube
- Detect to Protect - Jeff and the City of Good Neighbors 2025 · social-paid · youtube
- Detect to Protect - Nancy and the City of Good Neighbors 2025 · social-paid · youtube
Related campaigns
- Harm Reduction Delivered 2023–now
Sources
- Erie County: Erie County Launches 'Detect to Protect' Awareness Campaign (23 July 2024) sponsor · 2024
- Erie County: Erie County invests $5.9 million in opioid settlement funding in 25 programs (14 June 2024) sponsor · 2024
- Erie County Opioid Epidemic Task Force: opioid settlement fund plan (Aug 2022) sponsor · 2022
- Erie County: Detect to Protect social media toolkit sponsor
- Erie County Launches 'Detect to Protect' Awareness Campaign (press conference, YouTube) archive · 2024
- Impact Marketing + Communications: Erie County Harm Reduction Media Campaign (project page) sponsor
Research notes
US-NY (Erie County). Discovered 2026-10-22 for #17 (local campaigns pass; method: contract-record). Opened 2026-10-22: launch release (Impact chosen 'through a selective RFP process in late 2023'; radio from April 2024; runs through December 2025), 14 June 2024 settlement release ($1M, two years), 2022 settlement plan (original concept: stories of people affected by prescription opioids plus a campaign website, 'Professional services contract requires legislative approval'), toolkit page (6 videos, posters in 'City of Good Neighbors', 'The Party Has Changed' and 'This Is a Crisis' series). The 2024 campaign shifted from the 2022 prescription-opioid concept to cocaine and fentanyl testing. Check the numbers before reuse: toolkit claims 'Nearly 7 out of 10 opioid overdose deaths in Erie County involved cocaine' and 'One-third of our community's opioid overdose deaths are Black residents' (year and data source not given on the toolkit). Executions: toolkit-linked YouTube videos on the county channel, oEmbed-confirmed; years are upload years (2025), so earlier 2024 spots may exist elsewhere. Whether the campaign continued past December 2025 not checked. Added 2026-10-22 (second pass): Impact's own project page (opened) says Impact developed creative and educational products from formative research, shot photo and video with real Erie County residents, and was prime contractor, with iHeartMedia's UP team as subcontractor for media buying, placement and a dashboard targeting the most affected zip codes; channels added there: coasters, posters and brochures in bars, restaurants, barbershops, gas stations and pharmacies, out-of-home, location- and audience-based display, streaming audio and video. Its outcome percentages are the agency's own and need the county's order data before reuse. Impact's site lists offices in Maryland and New York; a Schenectady, NY listing exists for 'Impact Marketing & Communications, Inc.'. Reuse terms checked 2026-10-23 by an AI research pass for #47; not yet reviewed by a person.
Record cases/erie-county-ny-detect-to-protect.json, updated 2026-10-23· Link to this campaign