Get it together, Stoner Sloth!
December 18, 2015 11:48 PM   Subscribe

 
In fairness, you shouldn't be doing your exams if you're A: stoned or B: have been transformed into an anthropomorphic sloth. So credit there.
posted by solarion at 12:11 AM on December 19, 2015 [14 favorites]


I'm so utterly depressed by this campaign. What an absolute insult for those who suffer from mental health issues. This is how i feel when my chemical mix is off - when I'm depressed, anxious, dissociative... it happens often. It has absolutely zero to do with weed. How about we get mental health treatment for those who need it... stop stigmatizing people... make healthcare easily accessible and affordable for the disadvantaged. Stop using some of my real, horrible, personal stuff for your bullshit war on drugs, please.
posted by naju at 12:41 AM on December 19, 2015 [25 favorites]


a family member who is like me a stoner claims that weed really ups his basketball game

come to think of it, i've heard Sarah Silverman say the same thing

and if I were at the party listening to somebody prattle on about wearing shoes with no socks or whatever the hell, stoned or sober, I think I would maybe not groan and wave my claws but clear my throat and look bored which I'm not sure is a vast improvement
posted by angrycat at 12:49 AM on December 19, 2015 [12 favorites]


Wow. I wasn't expecting it to be that bad but, just, wow. It's amazing to think about how many people this must have encountered before being publicly broadcast many of whom might have been able to stop this cold in its tracks but instead let it pass. It's basically sketch comedy, right down to the musical cue, a tiny filler bit on Portlandia or something.

Growing up in Vancouver I once told my mom that if I chose not to be friends with people who smoked weed then I wouldn't have many friends. PSA's for weed are hard. It relaxes you, chases away your anxiety, slight pain, it helps you understand your cat way better, and makes you talk like a surfer. I'm almost surprised that none of these ads try to compare it more to cigarettes: bad breath, cancer, makes you stink, something that people who smoke weed can nod their head at and go "yeah, bro, that." Stoner Sloth is the kind of guy you'd want to cuddle up with when you're high. So soft, so chill.
posted by Neronomius at 12:56 AM on December 19, 2015 [32 favorites]


Apparently, marijuana affects your ability to pick up salt. Who knew?
posted by a lungful of dragon at 1:08 AM on December 19, 2015 [9 favorites]


Dig that bittersweet theme music!
posted by fairmettle at 1:11 AM on December 19, 2015 [3 favorites]


Meanwhile, Australian politicians stoutly resist calls for their own drug and alcohol testing and drink alcohol while parliament is sitting.
posted by emf at 1:13 AM on December 19, 2015 [12 favorites]


Maybe we wouldn't be unutterably sad, unresponsive sloths if you wouldn't arrest us and shoot us dead in the streets... so it goes...
posted by naju at 1:14 AM on December 19, 2015


Could have at least gone with a native animal. A koala would do nicely.
posted by Jimbob at 1:25 AM on December 19, 2015 [7 favorites]


Can you imagine if that sloth was a state governor?
posted by a lungful of dragon at 1:28 AM on December 19, 2015


People should stop smoking weed. Eating it is much more effective.
posted by telstar at 1:31 AM on December 19, 2015 [10 favorites]


I dunno, I thought this video was hilarious ... and hilariously ineffective. Like, if you're going to try and dissuade teens from smoking weed, why pick an animal that's universally adored? Why not a bedbug, spider, or ... roach?

I wanna get high with Stoner Sloth!
posted by panama joe at 1:38 AM on December 19, 2015 [16 favorites]


Stoner Sloth would make the best roommate ever. Always has the best weed, sleeps most of the time, and only uses the bathroom once a month.
posted by panama joe at 1:45 AM on December 19, 2015 [53 favorites]


I thought it was funny and honestly didn't see any dig at mental illness. Yes depression and med dosage can make you lethargic but so can drinking and drugs. It doesn't *necessarily* have to do with weed but it also can have to do with weed. I preferred the chemical drugs but I always found the weed smokers to be kind of slow :P
posted by Hazelsmrf at 2:20 AM on December 19, 2015 [5 favorites]


Here's my take on why I think stoners have got a bad rap:
1) Because it's been frowned upon for historical and sometimes racial reasons (and because it's still illegal to X degree), pot use tends to be anti-establishment.
2) Pot allows one to focus on stuff and shut a lot of unpleasant stuff out
3) A slice of pot users use pot to escape things that they really should be dealing with.
4) If you overdo it, you can get really confused and/or silly. I guess that's what the salt sloth was all about. However, I don't that it's possible to be that stoned.

Recently, I texted my aforementioned family member stoner a question about architecture that I phrased as "How much space is there between the walls and ceiling in an average room" and the family member was like "how baked r u"
posted by angrycat at 2:43 AM on December 19, 2015 [3 favorites]


There's already a T-shirt.

I can kind of see where they thought they were going with this campaign, because I have known some people who were a bit like Stoner Sloth (growing up in Adelaide in the '90s made this pretty much inevitable - good old ten plants rule). In a world where uniformly terrible and hilariously overblown government anti-drug advertising campaigns hadn't thoroughly inoculated the intended audience it might almost have worked. But this is not that world.
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 2:47 AM on December 19, 2015 [4 favorites]


Salt and salad do start with the same sound, man, so I guess it's conceivable that...

.........................

What were we talking about?
posted by kuanes at 3:16 AM on December 19, 2015 [12 favorites]


So I watched these, and then I convinced my wife she had to see this, and hearing her computer in the other room without seeing the screen, all I can think of is a super baked Chewbacca making those noises, kind of pounding away at the console of the Millennium Falcon as Han and Luke look on disgustedly, Tie Fighters and a Star Destroyer raising holy hell all around them. Han wants Chewie to go to warp speed, Chewie sadly produces a salad.
posted by Shepherd at 3:42 AM on December 19, 2015 [19 favorites]


Salt and salad do start with the same sound, man, so I guess it's conceivable that...

I think that SS was making a little etymological pun
posted by howfar at 3:43 AM on December 19, 2015 [3 favorites]


This is obviously NOT a sloth but a Wookie with a fingernail fetish.

Don't mess with a stoner Wookie - he'll tear your arms off - just take the salad and be happy.
posted by AGameOfMoans at 3:45 AM on December 19, 2015 [1 favorite]


Also WHAT KIND OF SALAD IS THAT

it's a bowl with some whole tomatoes and two unchopped leaves of kale or something sitting on top

that is not a salad
posted by Shepherd at 3:52 AM on December 19, 2015 [2 favorites]


Am I bad person for laughing at this? (nsfw audio)
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 4:01 AM on December 19, 2015 [5 favorites]


Apparently, marijuana affects your ability to pick up salt. Who knew?

Unless the salt is attached to a Dorito, of course.

all i really see here is people trying to put something down in various ways without making much of an argument, like we're a group of teenagers that agrees it's so obviously, like, dumb that no thought is necesary,

For anyone who grew up with the cack-handed anti-drug messages of the 1980s ("Just say no", "This is your brain on drugs"), this is indeed self-evidently dumb and serves more to provide stoner humor than any real prevention. Even though the videos are getting at a bit of a real phenomenon (we've all known the lethargic overly stoned guy who can barely remember his own name), the execution is so over the top as to be purely comedy skit.
posted by Dip Flash at 4:05 AM on December 19, 2015 [6 favorites]


naju: Stop using some of my real, horrible, personal stuff for your bullshit war on drugs, please.

Naju, I don't think this is about your real, horrible, personal stuff in any way.
posted by Too-Ticky at 4:08 AM on December 19, 2015 [9 favorites]


Then you have never encountered mockery and hatred due to a mental health condition or a disability. Good for you.
posted by howfar at 4:11 AM on December 19, 2015


That was a little terse and snarky. For those of us who have experienced ableist bullying, the image of Stoner Sloth as an uncoordinated, confused, miserable and helpless individual, wholly responsible for its own plight, and worthy of ridicule and contempt, doesn't seem particularly good one to feed to children.

It's not OK to encourage the condemnation of the kinds of behaviour the character is exhibiting.
posted by howfar at 4:16 AM on December 19, 2015 [4 favorites]


Aw, who doesn't like sloths? Zootopia has a better sloth joke.
posted by Pronoiac at 4:45 AM on December 19, 2015 [5 favorites]


Those were hilarious. Whoever came up with the idea must have been baked out of their mind!
posted by TedW at 5:11 AM on December 19, 2015 [6 favorites]


In fairness, you shouldn't be doing your exams if you're A: stoned or B: have been transformed into an anthropomorphic sloth. So credit there.

I couldn't stop wondering how that little blue bow got into Delilah's hair. It's adorable! It reminded me of when my daughter was young enough to wear such things.
posted by TedW at 5:17 AM on December 19, 2015 [4 favorites]


I thought they were hilarious. Not effective, which is unusual for Australian messages of this type (which tend to be horrifically graphic) but very entertaining considering the Chewie similarities and the timing.

Amonst those who don't like it, I wonder how many are not in Australia? Our healthcare system is very different and mental health services have improved considerably in the last 20 years. Its not always quick getting appointments but you don't have insurance companies denying you access, and we can go to the emergency department of top hospitals and be treated at zero cost.
posted by kitten magic at 5:25 AM on December 19, 2015 [1 favorite]


Because Naju's point about healthcare accessibility is all too real and very depressing for too many.
posted by kitten magic at 5:27 AM on December 19, 2015


It's not the sloth image itself. It's the weird, drawn-out melodrama -- the music, the groaning, the collapsing on the desk, the obnoxious (and they do come across as obnoxious) kids going "stoner sloth!"

This idea might (might!) have worked as a simple poster or print ad. Make the connection, move on.
posted by PlusDistance at 5:32 AM on December 19, 2015 [2 favorites]


I arrived at college deeply depressed about a personal relationship that was failing and tied up in self-doubt and self-consciousness. I did nothing but go to class and obsess about my problems.

One semester in, a good friend got me high for the first time. It changed my life. I became a DJ, editor-in-chief of the school paper, nailed the lead in a play and maintained a 3.5 average, all while thoroughly stoned. I pushed myself to take tough courses outside my major and loved every secod of my literature classes. I tried everything and had a blast, and was literally smoking every single day.

So yeah, PSAs about unmotivated stoners make me LOL.
posted by kinnakeet at 5:32 AM on December 19, 2015 [15 favorites]


The official site (linked in the article) is even more hilarious. The tag lines to some of the videos are over the top. "Passing the salt...the struggle is real" (Just what the hell kind of super-pot do they have down there, anyway?); "Weed's not exactly a performance enhancing drug" (According to WADA it is)
posted by TedW at 5:34 AM on December 19, 2015 [6 favorites]


#jasonthesalt is a hashtag hahaha. I think the good people at the department of the premier and cabinet have been smoking too.
posted by kitten magic at 5:40 AM on December 19, 2015


it's a bowl with some whole tomatoes and two unchopped leaves of kale or something sitting on top

that is not a salad


You should see what Australians call "chicken salad." It's basically the same thing, next to a whole breast of chicken.
posted by Sys Rq at 6:07 AM on December 19, 2015 [1 favorite]


. . .all I can think of is a super baked Chewbacca making those noises, kind of pounding away at the console of the Millennium Falcon as Han and Luke look on disgustedly, Tie Fighters and a Star Destroyer raising holy hell all around them. Han wants Chewie to go to warp speed, Chewie sadly produces a salad.

DUDE. SPOILER ALERT. FFS!!!
posted by jeremias at 6:14 AM on December 19, 2015 [4 favorites]


I've done the salad/salt thing many times, but that's only because the past 20 years of living on stage in front of amps has made it to where any background noise at all makes it to where everyone sounds like a teacher from a Peanuts Special to me.

For the same reason, sometimes in crowded rooms, if someone is speaking to me the best I can do is dumbly grin, nod like an idiot, and take a guess as to what they're saying.

God, I hope no one is assuming I'm stoned all the time.
posted by sourwookie at 6:27 AM on December 19, 2015 [2 favorites]


Could have at least gone with a native animal. A koala would do nicely.

Rejected Mascots
- Kinky Koala
- Kafkaesque Kangaroo
- Dense Dingo
- Edgy Echidna
- Emaciated Emu
- Panicked Platypus
- Wayward Wombat
- Genial Goanna
posted by Fizz at 6:37 AM on December 19, 2015 [8 favorites]


I really feel like stoner sloth probably was conceived at about 4:20.
posted by cotton dress sock at 6:38 AM on December 19, 2015 [4 favorites]


There's no real excuse for it not being a sleepy lizard.
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 6:55 AM on December 19, 2015 [1 favorite]


This campaign would make more sense in a place where weed is already legalized. It is about moderation, don't go to math tests, dinner with your parents, or douchey parties stoned because you probably won't have a great time. This is exactly the Set and Setting idea espoused by experienced trippers.
posted by Joe Chip at 7:20 AM on December 19, 2015 [9 favorites]


The next time someone asks me an inane question at work, I am going to groan, wave my hands, and slowly sink my head onto my desk.
posted by joeyjoejoejr at 7:22 AM on December 19, 2015 [23 favorites]


I get kind of like stoner slot when I'm high, which is the main reason that I don't tend to smoke weed anymore. When I was younger, and more inclined to smoke weed, being like stoner slot for a little while wasn't much of a deterrent.
posted by andoatnp at 7:32 AM on December 19, 2015 [1 favorite]


Koalas are essentially marsupial sloths anyway.
posted by acb at 7:35 AM on December 19, 2015 [1 favorite]


Apparently, marijuana affects your ability to pick up salt.

Me, I thought it had to do with the big fucking claws that would make it difficult to pick up anything smaller than a basketball. Geez, Mom, help your sloth kid out a little.
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:41 AM on December 19, 2015 [10 favorites]


sodium is bad for you mom
have some salad instead
i care
posted by robocop is bleeding at 7:46 AM on December 19, 2015 [32 favorites]


If the intended effect on viewers was to make them feel really, really bad for stoner sloth, mission accomplished.

I can only hope that stoner sloth gets a hold of some X-Men comics and learns that huge claws, properly sharpened, can make the difference in awkward social situations.

"Oh, stoner sloth..."
*snikt* "What's that, bub?"
posted by the sobsister at 7:48 AM on December 19, 2015 [9 favorites]


I think these were obviously designed to be funny. To the extent they've "gone viral," they've had some measure of success, even if any single viewer imagines their own pot habit will not be altered. I suspect there is a much more sophisticated psychology/marketing game happening here than most of you are giving them credit for. Given the clunky, deliberately ineffective anti-drug messaging we've all heard in the past, that's not a surprise. This isn't about turning you personally against pot, its about establishing norms, preserving the conventional wisdom. It may succeed at that even though viewers laugh at its exaggeration.
posted by Western Infidels at 7:51 AM on December 19, 2015 [4 favorites]


The tumblr page has some great tag lines: Passing the salt....the struggle is real.

I want that on a T-shirt.
posted by nubs at 7:57 AM on December 19, 2015 [1 favorite]


Groaning is pretty much my response when someone asks me to comment on their petty and mean comments about how someone doesn't know how to dress...the message on that one seems to be that is is better to be sharp and mean than "stoned" and not caring to comment on someone's appearance....not my values.

And maybe it was the strange mood I woke up in but there was something deeply strange and sad about the sloths...even though I realize they are supposed to be funny.
posted by bearette at 8:03 AM on December 19, 2015 [2 favorites]


Metafilter: So soft, so chill.
posted by TheCoug at 8:11 AM on December 19, 2015 [2 favorites]


However, I don't that it's possible to be that stoned.


Anything is possible if you believe in yourself.
posted by louche mustachio at 8:17 AM on December 19, 2015 [18 favorites]


Anything is possible if you believe in yourself.

This is an awesome place!
posted by Wolof at 8:22 AM on December 19, 2015 [1 favorite]


Naju, I don't think this is about your real, horrible, personal stuff in any way.

Y'know, I kind of felt this way, but then I thought about for a while when I was walking around, and realized that given the preposterously huge mountain of absolutely heinous shit that people with mental disabilities go through -- especially people who don't present in the same way as most people in public -- having jackholes call you "stoner sloth" is not really something that needs to get thrown on that pile.

I don't think it was the intent of the creators, but I can definitely see how the outcome is distressing.
posted by Shepherd at 8:35 AM on December 19, 2015 [4 favorites]


I have seen how Kristen Bell melts down over sloths. I'd be willing to smoke an awful lot of weed to be able to make Kristen Bell melt.
posted by benito.strauss at 8:45 AM on December 19, 2015 [2 favorites]


I find these disturbing— it seems like people bullying a depressed, defenseless sloth. It promotes stigma against drug users and doesn't offer alternatives. I can see why people would find them funny, but I can't see why any health agency would OK this.
posted by Maias at 8:51 AM on December 19, 2015 [9 favorites]


I really hope that 'salt' becomes (yet another) slang word for joint. I've a perfect mental image of a bunch of Australian teenagers sitting around smoking, one of them holds on to it for a bit too long and another says "C'mon man, pass the the salt." and they break into a minute-long laughing fit.
posted by benito.strauss at 8:55 AM on December 19, 2015 [18 favorites]


They should partner with Visit NSW, the tourism department of the NSW Government and produce some ads showing Stoner Sloth hanging out in some eucalyptus trees in the Blue Mountains and having a good time.
posted by Joe Chip at 9:00 AM on December 19, 2015 [1 favorite]


Also, if they wanted these ads to be effective, shouldn't they have chosen an animal that's known for being fast, but gets slowed down by weed? Like a Lethargic Cheetah or something? How would you even know if Stoner Sloth was actually stoned?
posted by panama joe at 9:12 AM on December 19, 2015 [20 favorites]


I found these hilarious. I don't feel bad for laughing at an anthropomorphized sloth for being a dumbass and getting overly blazed before English class or family dinner or whatever.

These ads are obviously aimed at smokers. The maudlin music practically screams "stoner comedy." They're not anti-smoking, they're anti-smoking *too much.*

I think the message of these PSAs is basically: don't get *so* smoked up that you're a living, breathing party foul (aka, "stoner sloth"). Which is a message I can get behind, tbh.
posted by rue72 at 1:03 PM on December 19, 2015 [7 favorites]


Naju, I don't think this is about your real, horrible, personal stuff in any way.

I was really drunk when I wrote my comment last night. Oops! I still stand by what I wrote, but in a less dramatic way. My sober self sees the humor but is still annoyed. Mostly I just wanna hug stoner sloth and tell him everything's gonna be ok.
posted by naju at 1:04 PM on December 19, 2015 [12 favorites]


Metafilter: I was really drunk when I wrote my comment last night. Oops!

Also, I'm glad you stand by what you wrote, I agreed with it very much.
posted by Cookiebastard at 1:12 PM on December 19, 2015 [2 favorites]


My sober self sees the humor but is still annoyed.

You know what could help with that
posted by cotton dress sock at 1:35 PM on December 19, 2015 [12 favorites]


Stoner Sloth \m/ . Thanks for the new band name. Demo will be out next week on Bandcamp- look for it!
posted by Liquidwolf at 2:57 PM on December 19, 2015 [3 favorites]


I really hope that 'salt' becomes (yet another) slang word for joint...

🎤Pass the salty to the left hand side....
posted by TedW at 3:36 PM on December 19, 2015 [1 favorite]


I am generally entertained by the whole genre of badly-designed anti-drug campaigns, of which this is a really prime example.

However, this seems like a really over-achieving ‪sloth‬. Want to be more active, responsible, and sociable than the average sloth? Want to go to school? Go to parties? Smoke up! I'm pretty sure that's the message I'm supposed to be getting here.
posted by gingerbeer at 3:36 PM on December 19, 2015 [6 favorites]


That party spot. "Don't smoke pot, kids! Just get hammered on booze like normal people".
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 5:19 PM on December 19, 2015 [7 favorites]


"In a pyrrhic victory for the NSW government, the stoner sloth campaign has gone viral but the anti-drug message appears to have lost out to the internet’s dual love of mocking failed ad campaigns, and sloths," as anti-drug campaigners and the NSW Premier have distanced themselves from the video. And in a happy twist, Stoner Sloth has turned out to be an actual online business with the mission to "have the average smoker or patient enjoy each and every smoking experience from seed to sleep."
posted by girlgenius at 10:11 PM on December 19, 2015 [1 favorite]


Wow, Mike Baird is dissing the ad series commissioned by his own department? That's got to hurt.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 11:52 PM on December 19, 2015


this stoner sloth is wondering why The Guardian is using a comma between compound elements

/groans and moves claws feebly
posted by angrycat at 6:42 AM on December 20, 2015 [2 favorites]


Either that, or it's a mislabelled anti sloth-racism campaign.

I mean, how is that sloth supposed to do a handwritten exam with a pen? She has claws, not fingers! She should have a scribe! I saw people in high school get scribes because they were dyslexic, but if you have no hands, you're on your own?

Do those party kids really expect a sloth to have an opinion on socks and sandals? He doesn't wear shoes! Plus, he can't hold those stupid slippery red cups, so he's the only sober one at your shitty party of underage drinkers. That's never fun.

And, finally, your sloth son has been listening to you moan for weeks about how your doctor thinks you need to eat better and up your fibre, and tries to help you keep to your new dietary parameters, and you mock him? You're a terrible mother.

RACISM AGAINST SLOTHS. AUSTRALIA SAYS NO.

posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 1:32 PM on December 20, 2015 [3 favorites]


Could have at least gone with a native animal. A koala would do nicely.

Yeah. But, although it warned against a genuine danger of marijuana use, the "Doritos Dingo" campaign was killed by commercial interests.
posted by The Bellman at 3:53 PM on December 20, 2015 [2 favorites]


Could have at least gone with a native animal. A koala would do nicely.

WEED WOMBAT
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 4:01 PM on December 20, 2015 [4 favorites]


PUFF PUFF PLATYPUS
posted by Sys Rq at 6:02 PM on December 20, 2015 [5 favorites]


EDIBLES EMU
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 6:19 PM on December 20, 2015 [2 favorites]


Oh gods, this is great. #stonertony
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 7:17 PM on December 20, 2015 [2 favorites]


@quollism has been putting some decent parodies together. An Act of Petty Sabotage, One in Five Teenagers, and my favourite, But Mum, Salt is Bad for You!
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 7:30 PM on December 20, 2015 [1 favorite]


SLOTH
WARS

posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 7:40 PM on December 20, 2015


WATERPIPE WALLABY
posted by Sys Rq at 9:37 PM on December 20, 2015 [1 favorite]


TWO-BONG DUGONG
posted by Sys Rq at 9:38 PM on December 20, 2015 [6 favorites]


QUONIC QUOKKA
posted by Sys Rq at 9:41 PM on December 20, 2015 [1 favorite]


PROCHOCOLATE ANTECHINUS
posted by Sys Rq at 9:51 PM on December 20, 2015 [2 favorites]


POTOROO
posted by Sys Rq at 9:51 PM on December 20, 2015 [3 favorites]


How did you miss CHRONIC KOALA?
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 3:12 AM on December 21, 2015 [1 favorite]


Together they are MUNCHIES MARSUPIALS!
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 3:14 AM on December 21, 2015 [1 favorite]


srsly tho potoroo is a real thing ppl
posted by Sys Rq at 8:33 AM on December 21, 2015


Ok, the "one in five teenagers" parody legit made me tear up.
posted by epersonae at 12:22 PM on December 21, 2015


Who knows how I skipped this fpp (cough) but here's a collection of links I can contribute.
posted by Thella at 2:11 AM on December 22, 2015 [2 favorites]


btw, i wrote this for vice about a slightly more serious implication...
posted by Maias at 5:56 AM on December 24, 2015 [5 favorites]


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