Can a gameshow get youths speaking up against drugs?

The Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) and Ogilvy Singapore have turned conversations around drugs into a gameshow as part of the second year of the "Uninfluenced" public education campaign.

Called "Pop my POV", the three-part series is designed to get youths openly discussing and challenging permissive attitudes towards drugs, while building their confidence to speak up when those views surface among their peers.

Hosted by Caitanya Tan, the gameshow features content creators Cavin Chua, Imran Shamer, Jayne Rajendran and Chow Jia Hui in debate-style scenarios based on conversations youths may encounter in real life. Audience participants also weigh in with their own responses throughout the series.

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Across three episodes, "Pop my POV" explores whether the legality of drugs changes perceptions of their use, whether someone should intervene when a friend uses drugs, and whether youths would continue saying no if doing so risked making them the "party pooper".

Rather than prescribing the "right" answers, the format encourages participants to debate different perspectives and think about how they might respond when confronted with similar situations.

The gameshow marks an evolution of "Uninfluenced", which launched in 2025 with a focus on helping youths recognise the personal, social and commercial influences shaping attitudes towards drugs, including pop-culture normalisation and misinformation.

For its second year, the campaign shifts from recognising these influences towards equipping youths with the confidence and practical strategies to respond to them. An initial paid media phase rolled out in July with five key visuals addressing arguments around curiosity, legality, groupthink, apathy and the bystander effect.

"Pop my POV" sits within a wider campaign spanning digital out-of-home, transit media, streaming platforms, paid social and publisher partnerships.

The campaign is also being activated across schools and Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs), with posters featuring four response personas known as the "Uninfluenced Pals": Gut, Wit, Reason and Empathy. QR codes on the materials direct students to an online persona-matching quiz, which offers different communication approaches for responding to permissive drug talk.

"Recognising permissive drug talk is an important first step, but real-life situations can be much more difficult to navigate, especially when those views come from friends or people we trust," said Kaye Chow, deputy director, partnership and outreach, DrugFreeSG Office, CNB.

She added that insights from the first year showed that while youths were willing to look out for one another, many lacked the confidence and practical skills to navigate conversations that normalise or condone drug use.

Post-campaign survey findings showed that 78% of youths surveyed were willing to intervene and protect their friends from drugs. However, 47% said they found it difficult to reject drugs in social settings, while 54% believed their individual voices could influence their peers.

"Year two builds on these conversations, with the gameshow designed to encourage deeper reflection and open dialogue," said Chow, adding that accompanying resources are intended to give youths practical strategies for navigating complex social situations.

Meanwhile, Troy Lim, group creative director at Ogilvy Singapore, said the gameshow format was developed to bring opinions that youths may be hesitant to express into the open.

"The gameshow format turns silent opinions into open debate, letting relatable voices spark the debate, giving youths the confidence to speak up and own their point of view," he said.

Earlier in July, CNB kicked off the second year of "Uninfluenced" with an augmented reality (AR)-led experience aimed at helping youths recognise and challenge permissive conversations around drug abuse.

The campaign visualised everyday comments, jokes and rationalisations around drugs as colourful floating 3D speech bubbles carrying common permissive statements. The creative appeared across inflatables, MRT platform screen doors, wallscape installations and bus shelter advertisements, with QR codes allowing youths to interact with the campaign.

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