Millennium Health Wins Award for ‘Drop Them Off’ Awareness Campaign
Millennium Health this week received the Silver Mark of Excellence award in the “Public Service” category by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), San Diego/Imperial Counties Chapter, for the Drop Them Off campaign. The goal of the campaign, launched earlier this year in partnership with the Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation and the Partnership for Drug Free Kids, is to ensure that everyone knows how to safely use, store and dispose of prescription medications to prevent their misuse, and provide tools and information to discuss and prevent misuse and abuse, for parents, kids and concerned community members.
The award-winning national grassroots campaign began with the launch of www.DropThemOff.com, a hub of information about prescription drug abuse and a resource for parents, teens and community members. An extensive social media strategy urged children, parents and community members to properly use, store and disposed of unwanted medications and incorporated video messages recorded by Mark Wahlberg and other prominent celebrities using the hashtag #DropThemOff. Viewers were encouraged to visit the website for information and downloadable material about the epidemic.
DropThemOff.com received more than 8,000 unique views the first week, and nearly 27,000 unique views to-date. Social media impressions across Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn resulted in more than 550,000 impressions.
Community members, key influencers, city officials, and friends and family of those who lost their lives to prescription drug abuse, attended the “If Only” movie premieres in Tewksbury, Mass. and San Diego. The movie has been downloaded online at least 560 times. The premieres garnered nine original articles (media placements) and five broadcast segments in Tewksbury and San Diego. Organizations across the country are interested in the movie and are now holding screenings of their own.
PRSA’s annual awards program recognizes San Diego’s best public relations campaigns and professionals in categories including social media, media relations, community relations, crisis communications and special events, which are judged by senior-level and APR-certified professionals.
More information about the campaign is available at www.DropThemOff.com, and the film is available for download at www.DropThemOff.com/IfOnly.