A new anti-marijuana ad campaign in New South Wales, Australia has drawn a wave of online ridicule over the weekend.
The “Stoner Sloth” campaign hopes to stop teens from smoking marijuana with an intoxicated sloth character who is unable to cope with various social scenarios after inhaling the drug.
The message, put out by the Australia’s New South Wales (NSW) Department of Premier and Cabinet, wants to illustrate the effects of drug by driving home the message, “You’re Worse on Weed.”
However, critics are not amused by the lovable sloth character and are convinced the campaign will backfire by sending a positive appeal to the drug, instead of its negative one.
“[This] doesn’t reflect NCPIC views on how cannabis harms campaigns should be approached,” said Australia’s National Cannabis Prevention and Information Centre (NCPIC) criticizing the campaign.
Many on social media are finding the “Stoner Sloth” to be absolutely hilarious, sparking the new hashtag, #stonersloth.
The first thing I thought when I saw #stonersloth was ‘how high were the people who made this?’
— Lauren Actually (@laureningram) December 19, 2015
I’ve been assured no sloths were harmed in the making of those #StonerSloth ads. — Mike Baird (@mikebairdMP) December 19, 2015
It’s here #stonersloth the t-shirt pic.twitter.com/h9S5zqvQOo
— Eiza (noeL) Berage (@verbaliza) December 20, 2015
The campaign also has a Facebook page where users have voiced there surprise that it is actually a real PSA and not a spoof.
Watch:
Feature image via screen grab
Leave a Reply