# Meth Im On It > Meth. I'm On It." is a 2019 South Dakota anti-drug PSA by Governor Kristi Noem featuring residents declaring "I'm on meth" that became a meme for its unintentional resemblance to drug-use confessions. "Meth. I'm On It." is a widely mocked anti-methamphetamine awareness campaign launched by South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem on November 18, 2019. The campaign, which cost taxpayers nearly $449,000 in agency fees, featured everyday South Dakotans declaring "I'm on meth" alongside the state tagline "Meth. We're On It." The unintentional double meaning turned the PSA into an instant meme, trending nationally on Twitter within hours of its debut. ## Origin On November 18, 2019, Governor Kristi Noem went live on Facebook to announce the campaign's launch[5]. In the announcement video, which picked up over 12,000 views in a single day, Noem described the state's meth epidemic as "growing at an alarming rate" and urged citizens to "get on it"[3]. She said the tagline was meant to signal "solutions and hope" and that "every one of us in South Dakota can partner to be on meth"[6]. The governor nearly laughed while delivering the line. Broadhead Co. had been paid just under $449,000 by the state's Department of Social Services during 2019, with a total contract ceiling of $1.4 million running through May 2020[2]. Wayne Carlson, Broadhead's VP of brand strategy, said the campaign was a "passion project" built around South Dakota's state pride[2]. Creative director Walt Burns explained they wanted real South Dakotans delivering a message that "we all need to be on it"[2]. - **Platform:** South Dakota Department of Social Services (campaign launch), Twitter (viral spread) - **Creator:** Broadhead Co. (ad agency), Wayne Carlson (VP of brand strategy), Walt Burns (creative director), Kristi Noem (South Dakota Governor, campaign spokesperson) - **Date:** 2019 ## Overview The "Meth. I'm On It." campaign was a $1.4 million multimedia anti-drug initiative created by Minneapolis-based ad agency Broadhead Co. for the South Dakota Department of Social Services[2]. Campaign materials showed ordinary South Dakotans, including an elderly farmer, high school football players, and a man in a coffee shop, all posed alongside the tagline "Meth. I'm on it"[7]. A statewide logo placed "Meth. We're On It." over an outline of South Dakota[5]. The campaign also included a dedicated website at onmeth.com, a domain choice that only deepened the confusion[7]. The intended message was that South Dakotans were collectively "on it" in the sense of tackling the meth crisis together. But the phrasing read far more naturally as a confession of drug use, and the internet noticed immediately. ## How It Spread The campaign went viral on Twitter within hours of launch. Reporter Mike Baker (@ByMikeBaker) tweeted "South Dakota has launched a campaign to combat meth. With this new logo" along with the campaign image, pulling in over 29,600 likes and 9,800 retweets in a single day[5]. Twitter user @lachlan posted photos from the PSA materials alongside the Argus Leader's report on the $450,000 price tag, earning 15,100 likes and 5,600 retweets[5]. Comedian Roy Wood Jr. shared an edited campaign image with the caption "I personally think South Dakota is on to something with their anti-meth campaign," picking up 1,800 likes[5]. By that afternoon, "South Dakota" and "meth" were both trending in the United States on Twitter[2]. The Argus Leader's own Twitter account piled on, tweeting: "South Dakota: 'Meth. We're on it.' The rest of the country: 'Hey, um, are you guys OK over there?'"[4]. NYT opinion columnist Jamelle Bouie offered a counter-proposal: "For half the cost of this campaign I will develop an even better slogan: 'Drugs. Hell yeah.'"[4]. Others pointed out that the official hashtag situation was unwieldy, with one user listing #MethWeAreOnIt #ButNotLikeOnItOnIt #MoreLikeGonnaDoSomethingAboutItOnIt[4]. The next day, coverage spread to major outlets including NBC News, Fox News, CNET, eBaum's World, and Addiction Center[1][3][6]. Users also dug up South Dakota's track record of unfortunate campaign slogans, including the 2014 "Don't Jerk and Drive" winter driving campaign and a 2015 tourism effort asking "Why die on Mars when you can live in South Dakota?"[4]. Minneapolis Star Tribune columnist Jennifer Brooks tweeted an image of Minnesota pointing at South Dakota with the words "Meth. They're on it"[4]. ## How to Use The "Meth. I'm On It." format typically works in two ways: 1. **Straight mockery**: Share the original campaign images (people in everyday settings with the "I'm on meth" tagline) and let the double meaning speak for itself. 2. **Edits and remixes**: Photoshop the "Meth. I'm on it" or "Meth. We're on it" tagline onto unrelated photos, suggesting that the subject is enthusiastically confessing to meth use. Roy Wood Jr.'s edit of the campaign image was an early example of this approach[5]. ## Cultural Impact Behind the jokes sat a genuine public health crisis. Eighty-three percent of South Dakota's 2019 court admissions for controlled substances involved meth[1]. Between 2014 and 2018, the number of people seeking meth addiction treatment in the state doubled[3]. Teenagers ages 12 to 17 in South Dakota reported using meth at twice the national average[1]. In Rapid City alone, drug arrests hit an all-time high of 1,546 in 2018 for a city of about 75,000[1]. Governor Noem defended the campaign on Twitter, writing "Hey Twitter, the whole point of this ad campaign is to raise awareness. So I think that's working"[4]. She later called it "a bold, innovative effort like the nation has never before seen"[7]. Social Services Secretary Laurie Gill described the campaign as "inclusive and empowering" and argued the attention was worthwhile[2]. Not everyone in South Dakota agreed. Dr. John Korkow, an addiction studies professor at the University of South Dakota, called the campaign "the most ridiculous, unprofessional waste of money" and said he "literally wondered if a 10-year-old had written" it[1]. UC Berkeley marketing professor Bill Pearce described the tagline as "poor strategy and poor execution"[7]. Rapid City police officer Brendyn Medina, who noted that finding meth during interactions had gone from noteworthy to "commonplace," acknowledged the severity of the crisis the campaign was trying to address[1]. The state's 2020 budget backed the awareness push with $1 million for meth treatment services and over $730,000 for school-based prevention programming[2]. Addiction treatment professionals offered mixed reviews. Carol Regier, director of Keystone Treatment Center in Canton, South Dakota, called it "very good that the state is going to take some action"[7]. Others felt that engaging the whole community was the right approach even if the execution invited mockery[7]. The campaign website onmeth.com originally offered a directory of treatment centers and support groups for drug addiction[7], though the domain has since lapsed and been taken over by unrelated content. ## Fun Facts - The original onmeth.com domain, which hosted treatment resources and the campaign materials, was later taken over by an unrelated gambling website with no connection to South Dakota's anti-drug efforts[7]. - South Dakota trademarked "Meth. We're on it," prompting one Twitter user to ask: "Did the state of South Dakota need to trademark 'Meth. We're on it.' Like, they thought someone was going to try and steal it?"[4] - Broadhead Co. described the campaign as a "passion project" because they enjoy "unraveling issues of great complexity"[2]. - The agency's research focused heavily on South Dakota pride, hoping to "activate" that pride in a way that could fight meth. They surveyed parents and studied communication gaps between Native Americans and Caucasians as part of the creative process[2]. - Officer Brendyn Medina of Rapid City police said that 10-15 years prior, finding someone with meth "was the talk of the department." By 2019, it was routine[1]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is "Meth. I'm On It."? It's a South Dakota government anti-meth awareness campaign launched in November 2019 that went viral for its unintentionally hilarious tagline, which read as a confession of meth use rather than a pledge to fight the epidemic[5]. ### Where did "Meth. I'm On It." come from? The campaign was created by Minneapolis ad agency Broadhead Co. and launched on November 18, 2019, by South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem via a Facebook live announcement[2]. ### What does "Meth. I'm On It." mean? The intended meaning was that South Dakotans were collectively "on it," meaning committed to addressing the state's meth crisis. The double meaning, implying the speaker is on meth, is what made it go viral[3]. ### How do you use "Meth. I'm On It."? Share the original campaign images for laughs, or edit the tagline onto other photos to create the impression that the subject is cheerfully admitting to drug use[5]. ### Is "Meth. I'm On It." still popular? The meme peaked in November 2019 and quickly faded after the initial wave of Twitter mockery and news coverage. It's occasionally referenced when discussing tone-deaf government campaigns[4]. ### How much did the "Meth. We're On It" campaign cost? The state paid Broadhead Co. nearly $449,000 in 2019, with a total contract not to exceed $1.4 million through May 2020[2]. ### Did the campaign actually work? Governor Noem declared it a success because it got people talking about South Dakota's meth epidemic, which was its stated goal[4]. Addiction professionals were split, with some welcoming the community engagement approach and others calling it an embarrassment[1][7]. ### How bad was South Dakota's meth problem? Eighty-three percent of the state's 2019 court admissions for controlled substances involved meth, and between 2014 and 2018, the number of people seeking meth treatment doubled[1][3]. ### Has South Dakota had other controversial ad campaigns? Yes. In 2014, the state ran a "Don't Jerk and Drive" winter driving campaign with obvious double entendre problems, and in 2015 launched a "Why die on Mars when you can live in South Dakota?" tourism campaign[4]. ### Who defended the campaign? Governor Noem tweeted that the point was to raise awareness and "that's working"[4]. Social Services Secretary Laurie Gill called it "inclusive and empowering"[2]. Broadhead Co. said their research showed South Dakota pride could be leveraged to address the meth epidemic[2]. ### Who criticized the campaign? Dr. John Korkow of the University of South Dakota called it "the most ridiculous, unprofessional waste of money"[1]. UC Berkeley marketing professor Bill Pearce called it "poor strategy and poor execution"[7]. ## References 1. [South Dakota Is High On Meth | eBaum's World]() 2. [บาคาร่า ออนไลน์ เว็บตรงไม่มีขั้นต่ำ สมัครบาคาร่า ไม่ผ่านเอเย่นต์]() 3. [Governor Kristi Noem launches anti-meth campaign 'Meth. We're On It.']() 4. [Meth. I'm On It. - Know Your Meme]() 5. [Willy's Chocolate Experience]() 6. [บาคาร่า ออนไลน์ เว็บตรงไม่มีขั้นต่ำ สมัครบาคาร่า ไม่ผ่านเอเย่นต์]() 7. [South Dakota's 'Meth. We're on it.' campaign is funny but state officials say the meth problem is deadly serious]() 8. ['Meth. We're on it' campaign rolls out in South Dakota to confusion, ridicule | Fox News]() 9. ["Meth. We're on It," Says South Dakota]() 10. [South Dakota is on meth, and it's not afraid to say so - CNET]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/meth-im-on-it Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library