▶Videoyoutube.comFriends for Life
“Friends for Life”
Washington State Health Care Authority (US-WA) fentanyl and naloxone campaign launched in spring 2023 for young adults 18-25 and families, asking friends to carry naloxone, respond to an overdose and use the Good Samaritan law; a September 2023 phase added prevention materials (refusal skills) for youth 12-18 and their parents, and new social videos followed in 2025-26. Ads ran on social media, dating apps and streaming services, backed by a free partner toolkit.
- Years
- 2023–now
- Country
- United States
- Topic
- DrugsHarm reductionOpioids
- Asks people to
- Never startRecognizeStartTalk to someone
- Strategy
- Self efficacySimple instructionTestimonial
- Channel
- PrintRadioSocial (organic)Social (paid)Website
- Audience
- ParentsYoung adultsYouthYoung adults 18-25 and families of youth and young adults 12-25 (2023); youth 12-18 and parents/caregivers (prevention phase from September 2023); Spanish-language versions.
Evidence
Self-reportedUnknown
HCA reports 2023 outcomes of 65 million+ ad impressions, 172,000+ website visitors, 1,300 material downloads, materials shared in 21 of 39 counties and sent to all 37 syringe service programs. Silver Anthem Award (Health), per HCA. No behavioral outcome evaluation found.
Sponsor (who paid)
- Washington State Health Care Authority, Division of Behavioral Health and Recovery State local government, funder
Credits (who made it)
- DH (Desautel Hege) Creative, 2023- source
Executions (individual ads)
- Why Eliseo Carries Naloxone (:10) 2023 · social-paid · vimeo
- Why Rollie Carries Naloxone (:10) 2023 · social-paid · vimeo
- Why Sahlly Carries Naloxone (:10) 2023 · social-paid · vimeo
- Why Sahlly Carries Naloxone (:30) 2023 · social-paid · vimeo
- Friends Carry Naloxone - Rollie and E (:30) 2023 · social-paid · vimeo
- Friends Carry Naloxone (:15) 2023 · social-paid · vimeo
- How to Use Naloxone (demo, :61) 2023 · website · vimeo
- Small Act, Big Difference (:30, youth prevention phase) 2023 · social-paid · vimeo
- Keep your friends safe. Carry naloxone. (:15) 2023 · social-paid · youtube
- Carry Naloxone audio PSA - Sahlly (:30) 2024 · radio · vimeo
- Talk to Teens audio PSA - Parent (:30) 2024 · radio · vimeo
- Friends for Life: Small Act, Big Difference (English) 2025 · social-paid · youtube
- Friends for Life: Small Acts, Big Difference (Spanish) 2025 · social-paid · youtube
- Animated About Naloxone social video social-organic · vimeo
- Naloxone is a Powerful Tool social video (Carla vlog) social-organic · vimeo
- Carry a Second Chance social video social-organic · vimeo
- Naloxone Explainer social video social-organic · vimeo
- Naloxone Reverses Overdose social video social-organic · vimeo
- Responding to an Overdose social video social-organic · vimeo
- Talk to Your Friends social video social-organic · vimeo
- Talk to Your People social video social-organic · vimeo
- Animated youth prevention PSA social-paid · vimeo
- Naloxone for a Night Out social video social-organic · vimeo
- Good Samaritan Law Q&A social video social-organic · vimeo
- One Talk Can Make a Difference social video social-organic · vimeo
- Find Free Naloxone Near You social video social-organic · vimeo
- Good Samaritan Law social video social-organic · vimeo
- Check in on Your Friends social video social-organic · vimeo
Related campaigns
- Prevent Overdose WA 2023–now
- For Our Lives 2023–now
- Starts with One 2018–now
- Fentanyl and Naloxone Awareness (ONDCP and Ad Council) 2023–now
Sources
- Friends for Life campaign site (HCA) sponsor
- Friends for Life partner toolkit (video and print assets) archive
- Athena Forum (HCA DBHR): Friends for Life fentanyl education campaign launches youth materials (Sept 20, 2023) sponsor · 2023
- HCA: Preventing opioid misuse and overdose (SURSAC campaign overview, 2023 outcomes) sponsor · 2024
- WA community colleges list: Friends for Life webinar notice naming DH as the agency that created the campaign reference · 2024
- KXLY: New campaign educates young adults on how to use naloxone (Apr 6, 2023) news · 2023
- ESD 112: Educators join forces to combat fentanyl crisis through Friends for Life training (May 2025) news · 2025
Research notes
US-WA. Discovered 2026-10-22 for #17. Credits checked 2026-10-22 against fetched pages: DH named as "the social impact agency who created the campaign in support of the Washington State Health Care Authority" (lists.ctc.edu webinar notice); all toolkit videos are hosted on DH's Vimeo account ("DH - Desautel Hege", per Vimeo oEmbed). HCA's Anthem Award release (hca.wa.gov/node/34311) returned 404 and was not archived; the award and the DH CEO quote are from search snippets only. Settlement funding: no source found that settlement money paid for Friends for Life (Athena page says prevention materials may use SOR, GFS and SABG funds). Execution years are Vimeo/YouTube upload dates; 2025-26 social videos are unlisted on Vimeo (years left blank; file names of the 1086xxxxxx set carry a 052225 date stamp). Kitsap Public Health District runs a localized "Kitsap Friends for Life" version; Oregon Health Authority adopted the brand in 2026 (not covered here). Ad library search: "Friends for Life", "Washington State Health Care Authority".
Record cases/wa-friends-for-life.json, updated 2026-10-22· Link to this campaign