The Australian government's latest anti-drug campaign stars Stoner Sloth. (YouTube)

Watch: Aussie gov’s odd ‘Stoner Sloth’ ads tell youths ‘You’re Worse on Weed’

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.

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.




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.