by Stephen of
the Thinkery
The Montana Meth Project has taken anti-drug advertising to an entirely new, and disturbing, level. They feature a teen beating up his mom, another being dumped at the ER by her “friends” and other audiovisual gems. They can be viewed here; be sure to check out the “bathtub” ad.
Certainlythe ads are provocative, and in any study measuring their effectivenessthey will definitely rank high in their ability to remain in viewers'memories. But the real issue here is whether such advertising is effective at all.
The effectiveness of anti-drug advertising has been studied extensively, with mixed results. Carson Wagner of the University of Texas at Austin identified several shortcomings with the standard self-report methodology of ant-drug advertisement studies:
