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ONDCP Ads on Youtube.com

From the creators of a blog that no one reads, and podcasts that no one listens to, comes…

Youtube videos that no one watches!

That’s right folks, ONDCP has created a Youtube profile and it’s about as cool as you might expect. The page includes several of ONDCP’s ads (you know, the ones that were proven to cause drug use), but for ONDCP super-fans there’s also a 3-part series featuring Drug Czar John Walters talking from behind a podium somewhere.

It’s delightfully ironic that, after a barrage of bad publicity, ONDCP has attempted to redeem its ads by placing them in an online popularity contest. Success on Youtube has much to do with viewer ratings, and after only one day, ONDCP’s ratings are as low as the system permits (note: ratings appearing in the user profile linked above are only updated periodically. You have to click on one of the videos to see how bad the ratings have gotten).

A high viewer count could theoretically demonstrate success despite poor ratings, but ONDCP has already removed their two most-watched videos, seemingly because of the low ratings. They’ve also removed the comment option for obvious reasons. Their next step will almost certainly be to remove the rating option entirely, but doing so will doom their videos to permanent obscurity and blatantly defeats the purpose of being on Youtube in the first place.

Enjoy it while you can, kids. When you get arrested for a half-gram of pot, lose financial aid for college, and get your life ruined by the drug war, ONDCP will have the last laugh.

Sidenote: Here's something good on Youtube.

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Permission to Reprint: This article is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license.
Looking for the easiest way to join the anti-drug war movement? You've found it!
dguard's picture

Remember, it's your money they are wasting...

The Washington Post reported that Rafael Lemaitre, a spokesman for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said, "If just one teen sees this and decides illegal drug use is not the path for them, it will be a success."

It seems highly unlikely that the ads will even achieve this small goal/performance measurement considering, as you point out, that the ads completely fail to deter drug use. A GAO report, released about two weeks ago, urged Congress to stop the White House's National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign. The GAO confirmed the results of a $43 million, government-funded study that found the campaign did not work. What's worse -- and even more embarrassing and troublesome -- is that the ad campaign has been linked to increases in drug use among 12 and 13 year olds, and girls.

The GAO report was prompted by a request from Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) to examine all of the contracts that were part of the media campaign, including ads, public relations and evaluation. Let's hope the senator continues to help expose this wasteful campaign.

popularity contest

we should put up some of our own ads and see what kids are interested in, propaganda or the truth

comments on youtube

I posted a comment calling the ad a waste of taxpayer money. So far that comment has not been posted.

youtube comments

are youtube comments usally moderated, or is it something the individual user can setup for the video they post?

re: comments

I've never seen anyone besides ONDCP moderate comments in Youtube. It defeats the purpose of having comments if you moderate them. At the very least, Youtube should have a warning that appears letting people know that the comments they're reading have been cherry-picked.

All those anti-drug

All those anti-drug communities on the internet are just facades.

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