Methamphetamine (meth) use has created a crisis in small-town America. The illegal, but widespread drug has wreaked havoc on families, schools, hospitals and law enforcement. The addiction rate for Meth is a staggering 93% compared to alcohol’s rate of 10%. Our goal was to raise awareness of the wide-spread negative effects of meth and reduce meth use by 20%.

Rural students are 59% more likely than urban kids to use meth but non-traditional media did not exist in the rural areas of Montana. We needed a huge share-of-voice and an innovative solution to combat this devastating epidemic.

The most successful drug prevention effort in US historyPaint The State generated 1000 entries representing all 56 counties. (230,000 square km)90% advertising recall 93% perceive meth as having “great risk” 50% of teens had 2+ conversations with parents (up 34%).

Meth use fell 70% Meth-related crime decreased 50%

To stimulate the community, we used TV for air coverage, radio for frequency -- then, most importantly, we turned to the people of the state of Montana.This battle required community passion and participation. Paint the State, a first-of-its-kind public art competition, encouraged all Montanans to use whatever “canvas” best spread the word. “Multi-media” submissions included everything from painted cows to grain silo murals. Local businesses and generous citizens volunteered time, energy, supplies and money.

We conducted face-to-face meetings (often emotionally heated) with each local TV/radio station, OOH owner, high school/daily newspaper and Movie Theater about meth’s impact on the community and to rally their support. We seized our targets’ attention with heart-wrenching TV spots and alarming OOH images. Created websites for teens to exchange their personal stories and served as a place for community leaders and parents to get the latest resources, treatment and peer-to-peer help.We were everywhere.