Rotterdam police and the municipality of Rotterdam • Friends for Brands • Brand Activation

Rotterdam police and the municipality of Rotterdam

Ex-drug dealers share their stories to stop drug normalization

As a recreational drug user, are you responsible for gang violence? Party drugs have become the norm in Rotterdam nightlife. Rotterdam police and the municipality of Rotterdam want to raise public awareness to the fact that using pills and coke is what keeps the crime in the streets and ports going.

But who can deliver this message without being pedantic? The police? The municipality? We opted for a different approach. Users do not consider themselves a criminal, but they usually buy from dealers, which they do consider criminal. This is where the upper and underworld come together. Ex-dealers know the behavior of the user and are at the same time experts in the harsh world behind drugs.

This makes them the perfect spokes person for a serious message. In this campaign, different ex-dealers share their poignant, true stories. Online you can listen to the (true) stories we recorded with time. In a ‘crime scene’ police tent at festivals, visitors experience the harsh world behind drugs not only in sound but also in image. With this approach, we show the situation how it is; real, harsh and unfair.