Social media campaign in JoCo targets youth, raises awareness about fentanyl

KSHB 41 anchor/reporter JuYeon Kim covers agricultural issues and the fentanyl crisis. Share your story idea with JuYeon .

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You Never Know, a new social media campaign in Johnson County, Kansas, is targeting people between the ages of 13-25 to raise awareness about the dangers of illicit fentanyl.

“We want this to be top of mind every time our teenagers walk out the door,” said advocate Libby Davis. “We hope that they are listening. We hope what they are hearing to heart.”

After losing her 16-year-old son Cooper Davis to fentanyl poisoning, it became Libby Davis’ life mission to spread awareness about the dangers of counterfeit pills.

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“We knew if we didn’t know that there were a lot of families that had no idea what was going on, and we really wanted to figure out how to inform more families about what is happening out there,” Davis said.

In fact, as of 2022, 64% of young people between the ages of 13-25 had no idea about fentanyl.

Advocates said the statistic called for immediate action.

Thus, the You Never Know campaign was created in partnership with Keepin’ Clean for Coop, Johnson County Mental Health, Johnson County Prevention and Recovery Coalition and Overflow, a local media agency.

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“We felt like doing it through this approach where we’re just providing information and really empowering youth to make those choices ... providing them with as much education and resources available,” said Sierra Wright, community prevention manager at Johnson County Mental Health.

Wright said being a part of this campaign had become much more personal as a mother. She wants to create a better, safer world for her two boys to grow up in.

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4.5 million eyes have already come across the campaign on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram. Over 400,000 have watched the PSA to complete on Hulu.

The numbers point to the success of months and months of focus group research by Overflow.

Wright said "a lot of thoughtfulness" was put into the message, color scheme and tone that resonated with the audience.

In the coming months, Overflow hopes to gather better data that shows measurable success of the campaign.

Down the line, the county hopes there will be more data on the perception of youth and risks associated with fentanyl.

Davis said the statewide campaign can be found on billboards and T-shirts in addition to screens.

Overflow

Keepin’ Clean for Coop currently helps fund the campaign, alongside funds from the Opioid Settlement Funds approved by the Board of County Commissioners.

“Gosh, it’s hard to describe because we’ve wanted this for so long,” Davis said of the campaign's early success.

As all involved work to share this message with every home and school district in Kansas, Davis is confident it is saving lives, saying she believes a campaign like this could have saved her son.

“I 100% believe it could have or we wouldn’t do it,” Davis said.

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