Meth. We're On It.
Also: On Meth · OnMeth.com
“Meth. We're On It.”
South Dakota Department of Social Services anti-methamphetamine awareness campaign launched by Governor Kristi Noem on 18 November 2019. TV ads, billboards, posters and a website showed South Dakotans of all ages saying 'I'm on meth' to make the point that meth is everyone's problem, and pointed people to a helpline, a text line and treatment resources. The slogan drew national ridicule; the state said the attention proved it was working.
- Years
- 2019–2020
- Country
- United States
- Budget
- About $1.4 million in total (SDPB, MPR/AP); the Department of Social Services paid Broadhead Co. 'just short of $449,000' in fall 2019 per open.sd.gov (Argus Leader via Yahoo).
- Topic
- Drugs
- Asks people to
- RecognizeSeek help
- Strategy
- Service link
- Channel
- HotlineOutdoorPrintSMSTVWebsite
- Audience
- General publicAll South Dakotans; the state cited teen meth use at double the national average and a doubling of people seeking meth treatment from 2014 to 2018. Follow-on prevention aimed at grades 6-8 was announced in December 2019.
Evidence
Self-reportedUnknown
Governor's figures one month in: about 87 people had called or texted the hotline (1-800-920-4343; text 'onmeth' to 898211) and 15 had been referred to treatment (SDPB, 20 Dec 2019). No evaluation of meth use or treatment outcomes found.
Sponsor (who paid)
- South Dakota Department of Social Services State local government, funder
- Office of the Governor of South Dakota (Kristi Noem) State local government, launched and fronted the campaign
Credits (who made it)
- Broadhead Co. Creative, 2019 source
Executions (individual ads)
- Meth. We're on it. South Dakota Meth Prevention Full Commercial 2019 2019 · tv · youtube
- Meth. We're on it. South Dakota Meth Prevention 2019 (Short - A) 2019 · tv · youtube
- Meth. We're on it. South Dakota Meth Prevention 2019 (Short - B) 2019 · tv · youtube
- South Dakota Meth Prevention Campaign PSA tv · youtube
Related campaigns
Sources
- South Dakota's governor defends 'Meth. We're on it' campaign (MPR News / AP, 18 Nov 2019) news · 2019
- 'Meth. We're On It.': South Dakota spends $449K on new anti-meth ad campaign (Argus Leader via Yahoo News) news · 2019
- Noem offers meth campaign stats (SDPB, 20 Dec 2019) news · 2019
- The meth campaign is transitioning to its next step (KOTA TV, 9 Dec 2019) news · 2019
- South Dakota's Campaign 'On Meth' Misses Opportunity (Psychiatric News, 2019) news · 2019 · DOI 10.1176/appi.pn.2019.12b32
Research notes
US-SD. Drafted by Claude (Claude Code) on 2026-10-28 for #130 from the news pages listed and the South Dakota Behavioral Health YouTube uploads (oEmbed-checked); unreviewed, including the cardSummary. End year 2020 rests on MPR/AP saying ads would run 'through May'; whether later flights ran is not checked (a KELOLAND/YouTube item says the campaign 'shifts messaging'). onmeth.com is no longer live. Search results attribute later figures (1,072 'find treatment' clicks, 184 calls or texts, 44 referrals by 2020) to a Fast Company article that returned 403; not verified, left out of evidence. The MPR/AP story calls the $449,000 agency 'a Minneapolis-based ad agency'; the Argus Leader names it Broadhead Co. Check the $1.4 million and $449,000 figures before reuse. Psychiatric News commentary cited by DOI only (not opened).
Record cases/sd-meth-were-on-it.json, updated 2026-10-28· Link to this campaign