Anti-Stigma Campaigns (2009-2020)
Collection Items
Stop Overdose BC
This anti-stigma campaign was developed by BC's Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions and launched in January 2018. The social marketing campaign's materials included two TV spot PSAs, an initial roll-out of four posters/social media ads (coloured…
In Plain Sight
Between May and August of 2019, Health Canada released an 8-episode podcast series on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and their own website that "explores the personal stories of people affected by the opioid crisis"; a crisis that is happening "in…
Courageous Conversations
A year and a half after the release of the "Stop Overdose BC" campaign, the BC Government Communications & Public Engagement agency (GCPE) enlisted the help of a multicultural ad agency, Captus Advertising, to adapt the campaign for ethnic…
Flood: The Overdose Epidemic in Canada
Highlighting the "province-to-province grassroots initiatives [that] provide harm reduction services, prevent overdoses, and reverse overdoses when they happen", this documentary addresses the stigma around substance use disorder. It narrows its…
End Stigma (Health Canada)
By emphasizing their relationships, friends and family (actors) of overdose decedents convey the message, "I never thought drugs would impact someone close to me" (their daughter, husband, friend). As they grieve the loss of this person, they reflect…
Stop Stigma. Save Lives.
Unique for its representation of intersecting oppressions and active drug use, Northern Health's antistigma campaign features the narratives of nine people with lived and living experience (five in active use and four in recovery) and two family…
People Who Use Drugs Are Real People (Durham Region)
This campaign builds on the "Stop Overdose BC" concept by integrating four related videos on opioids and overdose prevention, demonstrating the impact of the opioid crisis on real people in the Durham Region. The videos focus on the opioid crisis in…
Toward the Heart: Language Matters
The BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) enlisted the help of social justice-oriented creative and digital agency, Hello Cool World Media, to custom build a harm reduction showcase called Toward the Heart. According to Hello Cool World, the phrase…
Know More
Targeted toward teenagers and young adults, the Know More tour, originally in-person, visited high schools, events, and summer festivals to facilitate interactive activities on problematic opioid use. Along with addressing stigma towards people who…
End Stigma (Interior Health)
Notable for including the narrative of a person in active use, "End Stigma" is a "four part series of stories and videos about the stigma faced by those impacted by substance use". Interior Health also cut together a 30-second version of each…