Talk. They Hear You.

“Talk. They Hear You.”

SAMHSA's national underage drinking prevention campaign, created under the STOP Act and launched around 2013, that gives parents and caregivers the knowledge and confidence to talk with children early about alcohol. Extended to other drugs in 2017 and to parents of all youth under 21 in 2018; includes a role-play mobile app.

Years: 2013–now
Country: United States
Budget: SAMHSA contracts to Synergy Enterprises for the STOP Act national adult-oriented media campaign: USD 8,510,626 (Jun 2017-Jun 2022) and USD 11,493,597 (Jun 2022-Jun 2027) (USAspending)
Topic: Alcohol Drugs
Asks people to: Never start Talk to someone
Strategy: Self efficacy
Channel: Print Radio Social (organic)TV
Audience: Parents
Parents and caregivers of children 9-15 originally; all youth under 21 since 2018.

Evidence

Self-reportedUnknown

Congressionally mandated annual reports describe PSA airings in all 50 states and annual evaluation (national survey and case study planned per Federal Register); no peer-reviewed outcome evaluation found.

Sponsor (who paid)

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Federal government, funder and creator

Credits (who made it)

Synergy Enterprises Creative, 2017-2027 source

Executions (individual ads)

Talk. They Hear You. mobile app app
Parent resources web

Related campaigns

Underage Drinking Prevention (SAMHSA and Ad Council) 2005

Sources

Talk. They Hear You. campaign page (SAMHSA) sponsor
Talk. They Hear You. Celebrates 10 Years of Preventing Underage Substance Use (SAMHSA blog) sponsor
2023 Annual Report sponsor · 2023
Federal Register notice on campaign evaluation (Feb 2020) reference · 2020
Establishing a dialogue between parents and teens (PSA Research Center case history) reference

Research notes

Start year inferred from the '10 years' blog and SMA13 product number; confirm launch date. Meta Ad Library / Google: search advertiser 'SAMHSA'. Credits from contract records, 2026-10-22 procurement pass: the campaign's 2023 annual report (opened) says the STOP Act requires HHS to 'fund and oversee a national adult-oriented public service media campaign', which is Talk. They Hear You. SAMHSA's contracts for that campaign went to Synergy Enterprises (North Bethesda, MD): HHSS277201700001C, 'Underage drinking prevention national media campaign for STOP Act', 2017-2022 (https://www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT_AWD_HHSS277201700001C_7522_-NONE-_-NONE-), and 75S20122C00001, to 'further develop, implement, and evaluate the alignment of public messaging with the interventions of the multi-faceted adult oriented national media campaign', 2022-2027. A Synergy staff profile (bebee.com) says she leads development efforts for the campaign. Possible vendors for the 2013 launch: Gallup ('Underage drinking prevention national media campaign', 2009-2014, USD 5.19M) and ICF Macro ('Underage drinking prevention education initiatives', 2009-2014, USD 15.8M); Vanguard Communications held the UADPEI orders 2014-2022 (partner outreach). Reuse terms checked 2026-10-23 by an AI research pass for #47; not yet reviewed by a person.

Record cases/samhsa-talk-they-hear-you.json, updated 2026-10-23· Link to this campaign