BC RCMP Community Outreach

Driven by a shift in drug policy from criminalization to a public health issue, the community outreach department in the BC RCMP were looking for a new way to connect with students as part of their substance abuse awareness campaign. They were having difficulty engaging school kids and had a desire to create a conversation rather than trying to transfer knowledge ‘from above’. They had found that schoolkids often already have direct experience with addiction issues through friends or family members, and in many cases already know more about these issues than the outreach officer. Patronization had to be avoided at all costs.

How do you engage schoolkids with information on substance abuse, but not alienate them by being patronizing, condescending, or boring? With an octopus! We felt that a bold subject deserved bold messaging, and found the ‘Yoga Octopus’ to be a suitably irreverent, unexpected, and fresh perspective. We used a playful colour palette and informal typography to draw in the viewer to a set of cards that asked questions rather than tried to give answers. These encouraged openness and communication in a non-judgemental way and helped decompress a potentially stressful discussion.