The ‘Stoner Sloth’ Anti-Cannabis Campaign

Situation Analysis
Drug taking is an ongoing and increasing problem in society leading to road accidents, violence,and health issues
Research shows that first use of drugs occurs in the age range of 14–18 years and that Cannabis is
the most common first drug

Organisational Goals
The Government of the state of New South Wales, Australia resolved:
 To prevent/reduce the recreational use of Cannabis in NSW, particularly among young people
 To increase the number of young people who have never tried Cannabis

INPUTS:Communication ObjectivesTo raise awareness of the risks and consequences of recreational use of Cannabis
To dispel the curiosity and excitement associated with trying Cannabis
To challenge the belief that Cannabis is a safe and acceptable ‘first’ drug
To empower young people from using Cannabis and to discourse their friends and peers fromusing Cannabis.

Target audiences

14–18 years old in NSW who have tried Cannabis, or who are contemplating trying Cannabis, but
who are not frequent users
Key influencers of 14–18 years old in NSW including peersStrategy
 Develop a creative digital campaign that is funny, edgy, and appealing to 14–18 years olds, butwhich communicates messages supporting the objectives
 To conduct the campaign over the Christmas/summer holiday (December-January) period when
drug taking is common
 To evaluate the campaign rigorously

Other Inputs


In late 2016, the NSW Government allocated $500,000 to an anti-Cannabis campaign targeting
14–18 year olds
Contracted Saatchi & Saatchi to develop creative content for the campaign
Contracted the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) to advise on formative and evaluative
research, led by Professor Jim Macnamara
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ACTIVITIES:

Formative research including accessing national benchmark data on drug taking
Creative design of Stoner Sloth, an animated human-size sloth who portrayed drug takers moving
slowly and grunting and groaning (unable to speak coherently), and unable to perform tasks suchas complete school work, or interact sociallyDeveloped the theme ‘You’re worse on weed’Pre-testing of creative concepts
Produced 3 x 30-second videos (school scene, party scene, family dinner scene)
Produced 6 x 3-second GIFs (short animations)
Created a Stoner Sloth Community Facebook page
Crated a Tumblr www.stonersloth.com.au pageMedia buying for digital advertising through UM (Universal McCann)
Evaluation design including developing a pre/post exposure survey questionnaire and buying apanel list

OUTPUTS:

Posted the videos on Tumblr www.stonersloth.com.au with links to Your Room, a drug
information service providing detailed information and resources in relation to drugs
Posted the GIFs on the Facebook ‘Stoner Sloth’ community page with links to Your Room
Placed targeted online advertising on Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram, and Google paid search withlinks to the videos and GIFs
A ‘Stoner Sloth’ spokesperson responded to online questions and questions creatingconversations

OUTTAKES:
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Media metrics showed:- 2.19 million reach on Facebook (Facebook Statistics)- 8.31 million total impressions1- 194,644 views of the party scene video- 211,155 views of the family dinner scene video- 232,655 views of school exam scene video- 3.5 million impressions from videos on Facebook- 78% reach of the target audience against a target of 72%- $0.05 per 3-sec video view compared with a target cost of $0.10 per 3-sec video view
Social media quantitative analysis showed:- 30,000 comments on social media- 10,000 plus likes, shares, tags, and reblogs
Social media qualitative analysis of 27,000 social media posts2 showed engagement with thecampaign and use of messages with supportive comments such as:- “this is me”, “was me”, “is my family”, or just “me” posted 381 times- “this is you” messages or suggestions sent to others 230 times- “loving” the content and/or Stoner Sloth stated 51 times
Post-campaign survey showed:- High awareness of the campaign among target audience (see survey findings under‘Outcomes’)
Impressions here denote the total number of users who accessed a page with an in-stream video. In-stream is a format
where a video begins playing without a user clicking ‘play’. Views are the number of times videos are viewed for at least
30 seconds by a viewer clicking the ‘play’ button.
Some social media posts could not be retrieved.

2Traditional media analysis showed:- Criticism by public commentators including journalists, columnists, TV personalities, and someadvertising industry executives (e.g., “a waste of taxpayers’ money”) when the campaign
went viral after one month, including compilation videos on YouTube

OUTCOMES:Post-campaign survey of 14–18 year olds in NSW (n = 400 with error rate of +/-4.9% at the 95%
confidence level for results around 50%) with pre-exposure and post-exposure questions found:- 60% of 14–18 years olds in NSW were reached by the campaign- 53% of 14–18 years olds in NSW reported being aware of the videos and/or ads- 11–25% of respondents could recall key messages- 60% found the campaign memorable- 40% found the campaign credible/trustworthy- 32% of 14–18 years olds in NSW said the campaign ‘made them think’ and potentiallyinfluenced their future behaviour- All key messages about the negative consequences of using Cannabis increased by 5–10% (seeTable 1)

Table 1. Key messages about the potential negative consequences of Cannabis use pre- and post-campaign.

Pre-exposure

Post-exposure% increase

Performing poorly at school

69%

74%

5%

Not being able to follow conversations orinteract with friends in a social environment

54%

63%

9%

Being an embarrassment to friends

50%

58%

8%

Being isolated and alone at parties and othersocial events

46%

56%

10%

Having awkward family dinners

45%

54%

9%

Concern / message

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Triangulated analysis of (1) social media analysis, (2) traditional media, and (3) survey findings
showed:- Criticism was from non-target audience groups (50 plus years of age) and vested interests(e.g., traditional and competitor advertising agencies)- The target audience was reached and engaged with the campaign messages and it achieved
its objectives within the target audience- However, the public criticism received showed the risks of ‘collateral damage’ as well as
benefits when campaigns go viral

IMPACT:

Organisational and social impact:
The impact of such a campaign are likely to be longer-term. However, evaluation showed reduced
intention to try Cannabis and, based on outtake and outcome data, it can be predicted that itwill likely contribute to:- Reduced trialling of Cannabis among 14–18 year olds
- Reduced use of drugs in the community- Potentially reduced DUI, road accidents and violence- Reduced costs on health system
Insights:- The triangulated analysis and synthesis of data informed future planning by showing the risksof virality (typically only the benefits are recognised) and the need to conduct careful
environmental planning to consider all audiences.
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