RivCo Board of Supervisors approves summer-long anti-fentanyl ad campaign

The Riverside County Board of Supervisors approved a summer-long run of the public service announcement campaign Faces of Fentanyl which originally aired last October.

CEO Jeff Van Wagen proposed a $275,000 media contract with 3 Olives Media, who will re-distribute the campaign across media platforms. 3 Olives Media has also been contracted to handle a campaign about illegal fireworks use in Riverside County.

Faces of Fentanyl was created in response to the rise of fentanyl-related deaths in Riverside County.  

According to District Attorney Mike Hestrin, there were 503 confirmed fatal fentanyl deaths in 2022 compared to the 200 deaths the previous year. 110 fentanyl-related deaths have been recorded in Riverside County from January to February as of this year.

News Channel 3 has covered the fentanyl crisis in Riverside County and the state over the course of several months.

To view our in-depth coverage, including Karen Devine's I-Team Investigation "Fatal Flaw" click here.

Brooke Federico, Executive Office Public Information Officer for Riverside County , says that while fentanyl remains a consistent issue, the Faces of Fentanyl ads made an impact during their run.

“We actually saw that we had significant amount of people who were listening to the entire ad as it appeared on Spotify, or viewed the entire ad on their streaming devices or on their gaming platforms," said Federico.

Federico believes that the approved public awareness campaigns will further Riverside County’s mission to warn residents about the dangers of fentanyl use. 

“ It was never intended to just be one three to four month period and then the crisis would be over. We know it's a long term issue," said Federico

Now that the three-month contract has been approved, the public service announcements will be aired via social media, local radio stations and cable television. 

The ads will be available in English and Spanish.