Storytelling Critique: Center for Disease Control and Prevention - Adam Brown

The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention’s have created a digital awareness campaign to combat the prescription opioid epidemic in the United States. They do a very good job at spreading their target mediums past digital as well, with effective radio and billboard actions. I believe this is a fantastic tactic because something as widespread as this health crisis should cover all bases in terms of demographic. This should reach people of all ages and people all over the media spectrum. However, video and social media is certainly the most important for this campaign. These ads are the easiest to access and turn further into action.

However, in terms of their videos, this is a profoundly effective narration style. Their videos are narrated by addicts, current and former, in their own voice. These short vignettes of firsthand testimony put a face to this deadly problem. The eight videos provided on the website provide really crushing emotional experiences that plague literally millions of people. I think providing testimony from real people, who got hooked on non-criminal prescriptions. The videos are so effective because they prove this isn’t a purely criminal issue – something that is vitally important to this cause. Showing that these people aren’t dangerous criminals, rather regular Americans who lost their fight to prescription addiction. These videos are better than the banner ads and other online aspects of the campaign, because of the personal narrative testimony.

This campaign does a great job of not solely painting these addicts as victims or criminals, rather regular people who are not that out of the norm. The people at the center of this video campaign make these people an inspiration for other people who are trying to seek help to fight their addictions or drug problems. By keeping it in their voice and showing the non-criminal side of this epidemic, people are able to see this as a problem for regular people, making it more likely for them to take note of this. While these people are certainly not portrayed as heroes, they are also not portrayed as villainous; rather people who fell victim to a greater problem.

I believe these stories make a vital, integral contribution to this unbelievably important anti-opioid campaign. These videos, as I stated previously, put a non-criminal face to this horrific epidemic. This is so important because (especially with the current administration) it ensures that victims are not evil drug doers, rather regular people. That portrayal inspires people to learn more, and act upon the opioid epidemic. This contribution is so valuable because it enhances the rest of the campaign, both digitally and physically. A billboard or a banner ad mean a whole lot less when there is no actual face and testimony to the campaign. That angle ads a personal aspect that other mediums cannot actually provide. The narrative aspect is what drives the rest of the campaign in my opinion. It ensures that people who are viewing the campaign understand the truest meanings behind it all.