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Podcasts Take Two
This anti-drug campaign is all emoji
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Jul 23, 2015
Listen 8:24
This anti-drug campaign is all emoji
"Raising hand emoji. Sleeping emoji. Paper Emoji. Beer emoji." If you don't understand what that means, you're probably too old.
Believe it or not, this particular ad says "I want to fit in, but I don't want to smoke"
Believe it or not, this particular ad says "I want to fit in, but I don't want to smoke"
(
Drug-Free Kids
)

"Raising hand emoji. Sleeping emoji. Paper Emoji. Beer emoji." If you don't understand what that means, you're probably too old.

Now, the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, the same group behind the 1987 egg ad about your brains on drugs, has released a new campaign... no poultry products involved. No words involved actually.

It's made up entirely of emojis. 

It's the latest example of how much clout these little images have in our culture these days.

To better understand the evolution of these graphics and their role in how we communicate, we turn to analyst Sharon Ann Lee, founder of Culture Brain - a think tank which focuses on trends.

The campaign, which has already popped up on billboards, magazines and websites, directs viewers to the group's mobile-only site, wegotyou.life, to learn more about the ill effects of drinking and drugs, which aren't communicated in great detail on the ads themselves. 

Click on the blue player to listen the interview.