Christopher D Smithers Foundation's Stop The Spiral PSA Aims to Tackle Opioid Addiction

The Christopher D Smithers Foundation launches PSA to raise awareness of Opioid addiction. The PSA introduces a medical based treatment and offers other resources to help combat an epidemic of drug-­‐related deaths. 

#StopTheSpiral commissioned by The Christopher D. Smithers Foundation, inc, is a project to bring awareness and provide a medical solution to those suffering with opioid use disorder and help their families.

Their mission is to provide a medical alternative to traditional counselling in hopes of first and foremost keeping the person suffering from this medical condition alive.

They believe that if there is a heartbeat, there is hope. Over 60,000 Americans were killed by opioid drug overdose just last year and all indications are that those numbers are steadily increasing. Drug addiction is a serious problem for several demographics and is not discerning of age or economic class.

Opioid addicts far too often are not getting the medical treatment they need to eliminate their need to ingest or inject these deadly substances or find access to an effective treatment plan. Most traditional treatment includes detox and abstinence. 

Hey Charlie, is a heart-­‐wrenching video following a teen as he quickly turns his healthy normal life upside down with addiction. The spot features a series of vignettes that time lapse through a families’ life focusing on their son, Charlie. 

We open inside a dram/memory as the family is blissfully playing outdoors Charlie a young boy, being twirled around by his loving mother who is giggling and saying, “Charlie, don’t let go.” We follow the spot through Charlie’s eyes, as he grows older into his teen years.

The music is soft and cheerful and with each shot we get to know the young boy a bit better. Playfully picking on his younger siblings, studious and athletic, winning his marathon and blossoming in young love.

Charlie slowly begins to party and experience alcohol as most teenagers begin to do. He is then introduced to prescription opioid pills, which begin the quick escalation of his demise. Things in Charlie’s life quickly unravel as his need for pills increases and his desire for anything else disappears; each shot speeding up and the music making our hearts beat faster.

We witness his relationships, his grades, and his self-­‐control all falling apart before his eyes. Charlie’s need for pills is driving him insane. The alarm clock that once was a symbol to the start to his happy day and promising life now won’t turn off because Charlie can’t wake up. His mother rushes to his room and as you hear her struggle to wake him we are visually taken back to when he was just a child.

We again see Charlie, happy with his family outside. His mom utters those same words again, “Charlie, don’t let go,” as she swings young Charlie in her arms.