Journal #9

PSA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rh8GbPnoqCI

This is an anti-marijuana commercial sponsored by an anti-drug organization called Above The Influence. I encountered this ad on Youtube while watching anti-drug commercials. Above The Influence aims to help teenagers stand up to the influences and pressures of using drugs and alcohol. I encountered this video online while watching anti-marijuana ads.

The target audience of this ad is marijuana smokers as well as individuals who are contemplating using the drug. The video mentions that the user "just started smoking spot" and highlights the detrimental impact it has immediately had.

The objectives of the video were to demonstrate the negative impact that smoking weed can have on an individual and the secondary impact that it will have on one's relationships. The video is not particularly moving or powerful as a result of its hyperbolization of the effects of marijuana. The video portrays the "high" individual as deflated and lifeless on the couch. While it represents the individual's inability to perform at max capability, any individual watching the video understands that marijuana does not actually cause these symptoms. The video's over-dramatization makes it somewhat comical and diminishes the message.

This PSA and campaign employs a top-down approach using health education/promotion to tell the audience how to act. The video demonstrates that smoking weed is detrimental to you physically and socially and condemns anyone who smokes weed. While the video is attempting to deter the audience from a certain action, the ridiculousness of their representation is off-putting.

One question I would ask the director of the campaign is how they went about spreading the media and why those decision were made.

I did not think this PSA was particularly effective as it's intentions were good, but the execution was poor. Watching the video, I can easily understanding what their intended message is, but the content is unbelievable and is not relatable at all.