South Dakota’s governor defended an anti-methamphetamine campaign unveiled Monday that was widely mocked online.

"Hey Twitter, the whole point of this ad campaign is to raise awareness," Gov. Kristi Noem said Monday afternoon. "So I think that’s working…"

The campaign — "Meth. We're on it." — was launched by the state Department of Social Services and features a new website (onmeth.com), billboards and advertisements with people saying, "Meth, I’m on it."

"We didn’t want this to look like every other anti-drug campaign,” Laurie Gill, secretary for the Department of Social Services, said.

The effort has so far cost nearly $500,000, according to the Sioux Falls Argus Leader newspaper — or roughly one-third of the $1.4 million the state said it would pay to the Minnesota-based advertising agency behind the campaign.

The reaction was swift and often harsh.

South Dakota: "Meth. We're on it."



The rest of the country: "Hey, um, are you guys OK over there?" https://t.co/wX5aNWYoX3 — ArgusLeader911 (@Argus911) November 18, 2019

The state of South Dakota spent $500k on an ad campaign to let everyone know we’re on meth pic.twitter.com/TjAycDtjut — 🤠 (@c0mic_sans) November 18, 2019

Rejected options included “Meth: Just Do It” “Meth: for Real Men” “Meth: Fun, Cheap, Wacky” “Meth: Bringing Families Together” “Meth: You Should Buy Some and Use It” and “Got Meth?” https://t.co/0d9IcPwVj5 — J. Kru (@JeridKru) November 19, 2019

METH. WE’RE ON IT. South Dakota state government spent $500k on an ad campaign to let everyone know they’re on meth. 😂 I suppose now the state’s badlands will be known as the “Breaking Bad Lands.” pic.twitter.com/Iq3HDA9o0g — Lou Brutus (@LouBrutus) November 19, 2019

One observer noted that the firm behind the campaign likely knew exactly what it was up to.

“If their slogan had been of the ‘Don’t do meth; it’s bad for you’ ilk no one would be aware of SD’s anti-meth campaign today,” the person tweeted.

“Exactly!” the governor responded.