On peut tous agir pour sauver des vies. (We can all do our part to save lives.)

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Description

Based in Quebec, this 2019 anti-stigma campaign advocated for the general public to help fight the ongoing opioid crisis. Created for French-speaking audiences, two videos and three campaign posters were released. All campaign materials contain the tagline, "On peut tous agir pour sauver des vies" (We can all do our part to save lives).

One 30-second video was released on YouTube, depicting a female narrator who "reverses" a somber funeral for an overdose victim and explains that there is "no need for death", mirroring the consequences that the audience could have if they reached out to help those at risk in the opioid crisis. This video emphasizes how there could have been "no need" for the funeral of a middle-aged, middle-class appearing male if his friend had been there to adminster Naloxone to save his life when he overdosed. Another 30-second video (still available on Facebook) uses a darker and more urgent tone. This video starts off with an eerie pan through a deserted and run-down building before turning a corner to focus on a young man who appears to have died of an opioid overdose. The voiceover suggests that abuse of drugs from the "black market" or "without a prescription" kills "people like him" (suggesting street-based users) but then the camera makes a left turn and zooms in through a torn hole in the wall to focus on the same middle-aged, middle-class appearing man as in the other video, apparently overdosed and dead on a living room couch. The voiceover continues, "it also kills people like him and others", playing on the 'shock' of a non-stereotypical drug user dying of an opioid overdose alone and at home. The video concludes with the message that one overdose death occurs per day in Quebec.  

In addition to the videos, three posters were released: two were released at launch (posters 1 and 2) and another poster was released in 2021 (poster 3). In poster 1, a dark backdrop is paired with an opioid pill that has a morphed, anguished face on one side, described as "la face cachée des opoïdes" (the hidden face of opioids). Below this pill, the poster contains text explaining that (1) prescription opioids are effective pain relievers but should be used with caution and (2) black market opioids are responsible for one death per day in Quebec. Alternately, posters 2 and 3 feature a single naloxone nasal spray in front of a brightly coloured background, with text that emphasises that we can reverse overdoses by using naloxone, and explaining what naloxone is and where to find it. 

A government webpage was also included on all campaign materials, hosting information on the following opioid-related topics:
  • Description of opioids and consumption patterns
  • Risks of prescribed opioids and how to limit them
  • Risks of black market opioids and how to limit them
  • General precautions when using drugs
  • How to identify an opioid overdose
  • Opioid addiction and treatment
  • Additional resources

Date

2019-03-01

Language

Audience

Coverage

Duration

30 seconds

Location

Transcription

Video 2: "Les abus du marché noir ou ceux consommés sans ordonnance tuent des gens comme lui. Oui, il tue aussi des gens comme lui et d'autres.

Translation: Black market or over-the-counter abuse kills people like him. Yes, it also kills people like him and others. (HappyScribe)

Video 2:
Open scene at a funeral with a poster image of the deceased male. Female narrator closes his coffin and says “we don’t need that” she takes down his memorial photo from an easel and says “not this either” and then takes down a sign bearing his name and a wreath and says “take this down”, then walks out of the funeral home and says to a group of men standing in black next to a hearse “you (pl) can take your journey, sirs” (good day gentleman), then “put away the black” as she puts away funeral clothes back in the closet, then says “no tears” to the bereaved mother/daughter of the OD victim as she takes away their Kleenex and then turns to camera and explains, “because there will be no death”. Video continues on to show the man being revived after a friend administers naloxone instead of dying and the narrator says, "Naloxne, Voila" followed by the campaign's tag line "we can all do our part to save lives" (all in french and based on an approximate transcription/translation as original video no longer publicly accessible)

Citation

Ministry of Health and Social Services, Government of Quebec, “On peut tous agir pour sauver des vies. (We can all do our part to save lives.),” Anti-Stigma Archive, accessed November 3, 2024, https://antistigma.info/items/show/56.