The 1980s "Just Say No" anti-drug campaign backfired because it only told people what not to do without offering alternatives. Research shows negative-only messaging keeps the prohibited behavior salient in people's minds, actually increasing the behavior it tried to prevent.
There's this philosophy that it's easier to say what not to do than what to do. However, if it gives you worse results, did it actually make things easier? No. So we know telling people what not to do has never been effective. And by the way, research proves it. 1980s, they ran a famous campaign. Anybody know what the campaign was? It was about drugs. It was a very simple campaign. Just— Say no. Say no, don't do it. There were 2 different versions. What happened to drug use post that campaign? It soared. It didn't just increase a little. It soared because if you tell somebody what not to do, what do they have to do? Well, you didn't give them another option. That's the big problem. If I only say don't do this, I've only put the negative in your head.
