One of my most favored videos of all time is an anti-marijuana campaign: Stoner Sloth. You'd think it would be a joke; A human-sized sloth interacting in typical teenage life with profound dopiness and difficulty. The bigger joke is that this ad-campaign is totally serious, or at least supposed to be.
Quick! Watch it before I spoil it's hilarity:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rHm8GbTHyE
The campaign is by Australia’s New South Wales Department of Premier and Cabinet, according to the Huffington Post, and targeting teens in hope "to encourage positive behaviours in young people before bad habits start, and motivate discontinued use of cannabis before they become dependent." The assortment of clips released by this organization had a sloth representing a high teenager, who preforms uncomfortably in simple situations, only able to respond in helpless murmurs and moans. The scenes end with the slogan, "Your Worse On Weed."
Overall, this campaign's effectiveness in steering teens away from marijuana seemed very impotent. Everyone who I shared this video with laughed at the wacky scenario; a pity laugh if I were to guess. However, I must consider that we are Californians and that was a campaign designed in and for Australian teens. Perhaps, it preformed well over there? Haha, I doubt it though.
While the ad campaign did good in trying to relate to the lives of teens, the approach to it was just too absurd and funny. The stoned sloth idea was just a far stretch. How am I supposed to beleive that by smoking weed, I'll act like a sloth and won't be able to distinguish salt from a bowl of salad. (Which was one of the videos). The logic behind the circumstances are an exaggerated sense of stupidity and embarrassment that neither persuades me or impacts me to agree with them.
Simply put, this video was beyond hilarious to agree with. I can't see how the logic behind the videos and the stoned sloth could convince any teenager that marijuana's short term effects will make you as capable as a sloth. While the videos intentions can be identified, it didn't hit home for me.
I... I just feel so sorry for it. Every time I see it raise its arms to its head I just wanna be next to it saying "Everything is going to be ok Stoner Sloth, we can get through this."
ReplyDeleteMy favorite part is how in the first clip Stoner Sloth is incapable of finishing the test but fully capable of feeling self-confident and sad about not finishing. It may not be an effective ad but it got an emotional response from me.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite part is how in the first clip Stoner Sloth is incapable of finishing the test but fully capable of feeling self-confident and sad about not finishing. It may not be an effective ad but it got an emotional response from me.
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