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Living Proof (San Francisco)

San Francisco Department of Public Health campaign launched November 2024 featuring local residents in recovery as evidence that addiction treatment works, concentrated in the Tenderloin and South of Market where overdose deaths are highest.

Years
2024–now
Reach
210M impressions as reported
“Health department case study: ~210 million impressions through January 2026 across billboards, transit shelters, radio, local papers and social media;”
Country
United States
Budget
$540,596 Professional Services Agreement with Civic Edge Consulting 'to provide substance use public media campaigns' ($482,675 General Fund plus 12% contingency), 12/1/2023-12/1/2024, Health Commission Dec 5, 2023; tasks include Campaign #1 implementation $114,375 (opioid addiction treatment) and Campaign #2 implementation $114,375 (naloxone). The memo does not name Living Proof; see notes.
Topic
DrugsOpioids
Asks people to
Seek help
Strategy
Service linkTestimonial
Channel
OutdoorPrintRadioSocial (paid)Website
Audience
AdultsGeneral public
People who use drugs and their networks in San Francisco, especially the Tenderloin and SoMa; also the general public (stigma).

Evidence

ProcessUnknown

Health department case study: ~210 million impressions through January 2026 across billboards, transit shelters, radio, local papers and social media; in public polling 28% recalled it unaided, 52% said it made them more sympathetic toward people with a substance use disorder, and 44% said they were likely to take action. No treatment-entry outcome reported (Hom 2026).

Sponsor (who paid)

Credits (who made it)

Executions (individual ads)

Related campaigns

Sources

  1. Hom JK et al. Living Proof: centering recovery narratives in public health communication. Front Public Health 2026;14:1861243 evaluation · 2026 · DOI 10.3389/fpubh.2026.1861243 · PMID 42500013
  2. San Francisco Department of Public Health launches inspirational treatment and recovery public awareness campaign (sf.gov) sponsor · 2024
  3. SF officials launch media campaign promoting addiction treatment and recovery services (KQED) news · 2024
  4. Civic Edge: San Francisco Department of Public Health 'Living Proof SF' campaign sponsor
  5. SF Health Commission memo, Dec 5, 2023: new Professional Services Agreement with Civic Edge Consulting for substance use public media campaigns (Contract ID 1000031422, $540,596) sponsor · 2023
  6. Shorty Impact Awards entry: San Francisco Department of Public Health - Living Proof Campaign archive

Research notes

The PubMed title lost its italics; the campaign name 'Living Proof' comes from news coverage and the SF.gov release. Adapted from NYC Health's Living Proof model (2017) per a DPH briefing; NYC's version deserves its own case. Ads also ran on Lyft vehicles. Sponsor-authored evaluation. Credits checked 2026-10-22 against fetched pages: Civic Edge Consulting (creative development and execution, per its client page and the Shorty Impact entry, which lists Civic Edge producers) and lowercase productions (Civic Edge page: 'Civic Edge and lowercase productions created and implemented'). Agency-reported results: 70-72 million impressions, one in ten San Franciscans saw an ad (internal polling); ads in English, Spanish and Chinese, also at BART/Muni stations and in the Lyft app. Story videos are on the SFGovTV YouTube channel (oEmbed-confirmed). No settlement funding found. Discovered 2026-10-22 for #17 (extended: credits, executions). Contract added 2026-10-22 (local campaigns pass; method: contract-record): the Health Commission memo (PDF opened) approves a $540,596 Civic Edge agreement (RFQ2022-02; General Fund, so not settlement money) for 'two distinct public education campaigns', the first 'focused on the availability and effectiveness of treatment for opioid addiction', the second on naloxone. The memo's program administrator is Jeffrey Hom (first author of the evaluation). Linking Living Proof to Campaign #1 is an inference (same vendor, topic and administrator; Nov 2024 launch inside the contract term); the memo names no campaign. The naloxone campaign (#2) was not found: Civic Edge's Living Proof page mentions none and searches found no SFDPH naloxone ad campaign by Civic Edge, so no separate case.

Record cases/sf-living-proof.json, updated 2026-10-22· Link to this campaign