Businesses are ‘on it’ in piggybacking on state’s viral meth campaign

Businesses are riding on the coattails of a South Dakota ad campaign that's garnered national attention.

Gov. Kristi Noem launched her new anti-meth campaign on Monday to bring awareness to the meth epidemic in South Dakota. The campaign's motto features the phrase, "Meth. We're on it."

While many social media users have mocked the slogan or questioned its effectiveness, Noem says the campaign is working as a conversation starter for the state's meth issue.

While the state paid $450,000 so far for the campaign, several businesses and organizations are capitalizing on the popularity of the slogan and resulting social media memes for free.

Chad Pickard, owner of Spoke-N-Sport with locations in Sioux Falls and Brookings, said he wanted to bring a positive spin with the campaign slogan and surrounding memes as a way to promote the state. He created an advertisements playing on the slogan with "Bikes. We're on it."

"We've got a great state and great economy," he said. "I hate it when South Dakota gets in the limelight for stuff like this. There are so many better things we can be known for. It's a way to put a positive spin on it and some of the really great things that come out of South Dakota."

While Pickard's initial instinct was to jump in on making fun of the campaign on social media, he stopped himself.

"It's so easy to be negative about stuff on social media," he said. "My first reaction was to make a meme making fun of it, but as I thought about it I wanted to remind people that there are some great things in South Dakota."

The Sturgis Buffalo Chip's social media department also jumped on the trend with a spin, "Motorcycles. We're on 'em." The company regularly uses memes circulating online to promote their brand to followers, said spokeswoman Nyla Griffith.

"It was a lighthearted poke at the notoriety of the campaign," Griffith said. "We're all about fun, and we're the best party anywhere. That's what we're trying to promote. We're not trying to make anybody feel bad about their campaign. We just want to have fun with it."

It's not just South Dakota businesses taking advantage of the campaign. A Houston-based law group advertised on Twitter with a spin on the slogan: "Divorce. We're on it." Natural Light, a light beer company, also jumped on the bandwagon on Twitter.

Raygun, a Des Moines, Iowa-based T-shirt company has also jumped in on the trend, creating shirts referencing the campaign slogan. The company earlier this week plastered screenshots of tweets referencing the campaign across its website homepage.

Their shirts had messages including, "South Dakota is apparently on meth" and "Don't meth with South Dakota." 

Despite any teasing on social media, Noem called the campaign a success for the attention it's received.