Of all the animals to be picked to star in a government’s high-profile anti-drug campaign, the sloth is not one that immediately comes to mind.
Here’s a pot education campaign people didn’t like: ‘Don’t Be a Lab Rat’
Here’s a pot education campaign people liked: ‘Good to Know’
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But there he (and she) is — Stoner Sloth, slacking and grunting and moving at a snail’s pace and not finishing the test and passing the wrong item at the kitchen table and not participating in a conversation with friends and generally being the most ineffective person on the screen, in educational videos recently released from the Australian state of New South Wales.
The tagline for the teen-aimed videos (above): “You’re Worse on Weed.”
The videos are supremely strange, and especially in an age of Internet tomfoolery, it’s hard to tell if they’re legitimate anti-drug education or well-executed parody. And apparently I wasn’t the only one unsure of the videos’ origination.
tbh if anything #stonersloth seems more like a parody than a campaign tryna stop people from 420 blazing
— krystal (@krysluu) December 6, 2015
Can't decide if this is the worst or greatest anti-marijuana ad campaign ever. #StonerSloth Where can I get one? https://t.co/t0sSBZPzuM
— Nasr Ahmed (@nasrahmed93) December 18, 2015
Mashable points out that a WHOIS search on the Stoner Sloth’s website points to the New South Wales Department of Premier of Cabinet.
So for those who don’t believe, Stoner Sloth is real. Just don’t expect him to pass the salt at dinner.