Tribal DDB Tapped For Cough Medicine Abuse

  • December 15, 2011

Tribal DDB San Francisco has been tapped by the Consumer Healthcare Products Association and the Partnership at Drugfree.org to create an ad campaign intended to help curb the abuse of over-the-counter cough medicine by teens, otherwise known as "Robotripping." 5% of teens ages 12-17 admit to having abused OTC cough remedies which contain dextromethorphan, or DMX, which in very large doses can have psychedelic effects but also cause nausea, vomiting, and blackouts. As always, discouraging drug abuse requires something of a balancing act, as efforts to highlight ill effects can unintentionally draw attention to the practice, creating new users -- the exact opposite of the original goal. Mike Parker, President, Tribal DDB US, stated: "From our social media listening activities and other research, we identified a number of different subgroups within the broader target audience. We look forward to connecting with these groups individually while simultaneously protecting against educating or intriguing teens that aren't aware of cough medicine abuse."

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