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Faces of Fentanyl

“You are not the exception. Don't be another Face of Fentanyl.”

County of Riverside (US-CA) fentanyl awareness campaign launched in October 2022 with the line 'You are not the exception. Don't be another Face of Fentanyl.' County staff made the PSAs, graphics and billboards in English and Spanish; outside agencies bought the media, and from 2024 opioid settlement money paid for most of it.

Years
2022–now
Reach
136M impressions as reported
“County reports 'more than 136 million impressions cumulatively' and calls it an 'Emmy award-winning campaign' (Board item 2.13, July 1, 2025).”
Country
United States
Budget
$288,255 Professional Service Agreement for the Fentanyl Awareness Outreach/Marketing Campaign with Mind and Mill, LLC, one year through June 30, 2023, plus up to $28,826 additional compensation, 100% General Fund Contingency (Board, July 12, 2022); the county release says the Board approved $300,000 for ad placements. $275,000 for the Illegal Fireworks & Fentanyl Awareness Outreach/Marketing Campaign with 3 Olives Media through August 31, 2023 (33% federal, 14% state, 7% DPSS, 45% general fund; Board, June 13, 2023), of which 'The cost for the fentanyl awareness campaign is $150,000.00', shared equally by DPSS and Child Support Services. $600,000 Professional Service Agreement with 3 Olives Media approved Oct 17, 2023 for six months to April 28, 2024; its unspent remainder was re-dated as the $256,000 not-to-exceed Fentanyl Awareness Outreach/Marketing Campaign Agreement through July 31, 2024, '83% Opioid Settlement Fund 22860, 17% Departmental Funds' ($212,000 settlement, $44,000 departmental; Board, June 11, 2024). 'The county funded $500,000 for the Faces of Fentanyl advertising campaign' from the first opioid settlement installment (Board item 2.13, July 1, 2025).
Topic
DrugsOpioids
Asks people to
Never startRecognize
Strategy
Fear appealTestimonial
Channel
OutdoorRadioSocial (paid)TVWebsite
Audience
General publicParentsYoung adults
Countywide, English and Spanish; the 2025 Board update says placement was heavier among 16-50-year-olds in areas with higher fentanyl death rates.

Evidence

Self-reportedUnknown

County reports 'more than 136 million impressions cumulatively' and calls it an 'Emmy award-winning campaign' (Board item 2.13, July 1, 2025). No behavior or overdose outcome measured.

Sponsor (who paid)

Credits (who made it)

Executions (individual ads)

Related campaigns

Sources

  1. County of Riverside: Faces of Fentanyl campaign launches, county leaders come together to fight fentanyl on multiple fronts (Oct 28, 2022) sponsor · 2022
  2. County of Riverside media advisory: county fights fentanyl on multiple fronts, launches awareness campaign (Oct 13, 2022) sponsor · 2022
  3. Riverside County Board of Supervisors, Statement of Proceedings July 12, 2022 (item 3.35, Mind and Mill agreement) sponsor · 2022
  4. Riverside County Board of Supervisors, Statement of Proceedings June 13, 2023 (item 3.3, 3 Olives Media fireworks and fentanyl agreement) sponsor · 2023
  5. Riverside County Board of Supervisors, Statement of Proceedings June 11, 2024 (item 3.8, 3 Olives Media fentanyl agreement) sponsor · 2024
  6. Riverside County Board item 2.13, July 1, 2025: updates from the Ad-Hoc Multidisciplinary Committee on Fentanyl Response sponsor · 2025
  7. Faces of Fentanyl campaign site sponsor
  8. Riverside County Board item 3.35, July 12, 2022: Professional Service Agreement for the Fentanyl Awareness Outreach/Marketing Campaign with Mind and Mill, LLC (scanned PDF) sponsor · 2022
  9. Riverside County Board item 3.3, June 13, 2023: Illegal Fireworks & Fentanyl Awareness Outreach/Marketing Campaign with 3 Olives Media (scanned PDF) sponsor · 2023
  10. Riverside County Board item 3.8, June 11, 2024: ratify Fentanyl Awareness Outreach/Marketing Campaign Agreement with 3 Olives Media (scanned PDF) sponsor · 2024

Research notes

US-CA (Riverside County). Discovered 2026-10-22 for #17 (local campaigns pass; method: contract-record). Opened 2026-10-22: county release and media advisory (rivco node 1521, 1401); Board proceedings of 2022-07-12, 2023-06-13 and 2024-06-11; Board item 2.13 of 2025-07-01 (PDF); facesoffentanyl.net. The county release says 'All creative assets were made by county employees' and 'a local marketing agency was hired to place the advertisements', so Mind and Mill and 3 Olives Media are credited as media, not creative. The 2023 3 Olives contract covered both illegal fireworks and fentanyl awareness; the same vendor also got a separate $100,000 general-fund fireworks contract on 2024-06-11 (not counted here). Emmy category and year not found. The campaign site has no embedded video. Added 2026-10-22 by a second pass (OCR of the scanned Board PDFs): 2022 item 3.35 says creative assets were 'being developed in-house with mostly existing county resources' and Mind and Mill would 'develop and implement a paid-media advertising campaign strategy to reach Riverside County residents between the ages of 16 - 50' (RFP RIVCO-2022-RFP-0000505, eight bids $281,000-$350,000; plus an $8,000 purchase order for message development strategy); 2023 item 3.3 says '3 Olives Media LLC will utilize creative ads previously developed for the County of Riverside; this contract portion is for additional ad buys'; 2024 item 3.8 names 'the Faces of Fentanyl campaign', lists the earlier agreements (July 12, 2022 $288,255; June 13, 2023 $150,000) and the Oct 17, 2023 $600,000 3 Olives agreement. So the 2023-24 buys did carry the county's creative. Execution: the 30-second PSA on the DA's YouTube channel. Numbers to check before reuse: 136 million impressions is the county's own figure. A separate county overdose campaign by RUHS-Public Health is riverside-county-overdose-prevention-media.

Record cases/riverside-county-faces-of-fentanyl.json, updated 2026-10-22· Link to this campaign