prescription drug take back!

Problem

A problem was arising where teenagers were taking the pills of old prescriptions from mom, dad, and grandparents. They were having pill parties with each other taking the pills. The state of Arkansas was in the top four in the country for teenage drug abuse.

As a side note, flushing old medicines down the toilet was having an effect on the environment.

Vision

We wanted to start regular prescription drug take back days. The problem was that the DEA required law enforcement people at locations and they were not thrilled about having drugs returned to drug stores.

We went to state DEA's and local law enforcement agencies, wanting to help with the problem. About this time the national DEA was trying to get a program out.

With the help of our ad agency, we teamed up with local law enforcement agencies to have a take back day. We promoted with television ads, in print, and online the dates. We also went to talk on the radio and television talk shows promoting the program.

The result was getting over a half million pills off the streets in Tulsa and in Little Rock in one day. Plus, we were able to get $25,000 worth of exposure on the radio and TV with the talk shows and the news reports.