Danny Trejo stars in 'fake' movie to promote Safe Pharmacy's 'bad medicine' campaign

Safe Pharmacy has released its first PSA aimed at counterfeit medication.

The playful video, “Bad Meds,” stars Danny Trejo and will be available on TV, social media, radio, print and out of home. The award-winning actor is helping raise consumer awareness about counterfeit medicines.

The video was created in partnership with the Alliance of Safe Online Pharmacies, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, the Los Angeles Police Department, the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy and the Department of Homeland Security.

Four out of every 10 counterfeit pills contain potentially deadly ingredients, leading to more than 1 million deaths annually, according to the World Health Organization.

And the threat of counterfeit meds was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which drove more consumers to buy medicines online.

The video itself shows Trejo walking through fake movie sets and is geared toward those most at risk for counterfeit drugs, such as the homeless and minority populations.

Reciting the tag line, “don’t worry, it’s fake” several times, Trejo punches his fist through glass, dodges a machete and disengages a fake bomb. At the end of the ad, Trejo confesses that nothing fake on a movie set is as scary as the threat of fake medications.

“I've lost so many friends, and as someone who has seen it from both sides of the fence, it has gotten so much worse over the years,” Trejo said in a press release.

“This partnership that we've developed is what really needs to continue around the world. Since I’ve partnered with the LA County Sheriff's Department in the past to help rehabilitate individuals, this PSA felt like a natural fit for me to participate in.”

“Bad Meds” was developed by The-Artery studio and will include transit and live billboard marketing in New York’s Times Square. The still image will resemble a movie poster and be titled “The Story of a Fake.” A call to action on the poster will lead consumers to the Safe Pharmacy website to view the video.

The ongoing social campaign will focus on educating viewers on how to spot fake medicines along with next steps for reviewing a medication for safety—ultimately saving more people from "Bad Meds."

“Internet criminals know that people go online for three reasons: convenience, cost and access to care,” Libby Baney, senior adviser and co-founder of the Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies, added in the release.

“Counterfeit medicines are rampant, and the risks are exponentially greater when you go online. We need to make it simple for people to find a safe site, and Safe Pharmacy makes it really easy to verify before you buy.”

Geoffrey Deedrick, captain of the Counterfeit and Piracy Enforcement Team at the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, warns that more and more people are looking to buy pharmaceuticals online through companies they don’t know just because the website looks professional.

But Deedrick wants consumers to know that what is being sold could kill a patient. He hopes the video will save lives and encourage people to get the right medications from a physician.