Maryland Department of Health, Fentanyl & Xylazine Awareness

The Maryland State Ad Agency (MSAA) designed and launched an advertising campaign for the Maryland Department of Health (MDH) to raise awareness about fentanyl and xylazine, two drugs that contributed to more than 80% of overdose deaths in our state during 2022. Due to the sensitive nature of the topic, MSAA needed to create the messaging without using words or images that could possibly trigger relapse on the part of an addicted individual (such as overdose victims & drug paraphernalia). MSAA invested time researching and pre-planning so that it could immediately formulate the campaign once the client greenlit the effort.

The target demographic for the campaign was a general audience of men and women aged 18 – 34, 50% males and 50% females. Selected media included broadcast TV, cable TV, public TV, OTT, audio streaming, broadcast radio, digital and print media throughout Maryland.

Fentanyl is an opioid 50 times stronger than heroin, and xylazine is not intended for humans; both are being added to street drugs without users knowing it. Anyone who uses drugs, even occasionally, is at risk of overdose. MSAA is proud to work with MDH to help get a very important message to the citizens of Maryland and to help reduce the number of overdose-related deaths.