An Australian anti-marijuana campaign, called Stoner Sloth, attracted several viewers, but also welcomed criticism and online mockery. The video posted online shows an intoxicated sloth.

The campaign shows a sloth being stoned in different social situations. The campaign, which has its own Tumblr page and Facebook account, was launched to encourage youngsters to stop getting high.

As of now, the video posted on YouTube has attracted more than 1.6 million views, with the hashtag #stonersloth trending on Twitter on the weekend, where the campaign's notoriety exploded — despite being around since November.

New South Wales Premier Mike Baird expressing his views about the campaign on Saturday said he was totally unaware of the campaign, created by his own team, the New South Wales Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPC).

He further said that whoever has created the ad is not admitting it publicly. Best Ads On TV has a full list of credits affiliated with the Stoner Sloth campaign, and it is believed the ad agency behind it is Saatchi & Saatchi Australia, according to AdNews.

The National Cannabis Prevention and Information Centre (NCPIC) has kept distance from the Stoner Sloth campaign and said that the New South Wales Department of Premier of Cabinet must take back the claims that its research formed the basis of the campaign, according to Fairfax Media.

Where on one hand the campaign invited criticism and mockery, on the other hand, it inspired a raft of parody videos, some of which were hilarious as the original campaign itself.