The use of information campaigns as a policy instrument is quite popular. They are relatively cheap and easy to deploy. Recently, different types of information campaign are also used to prevent drug use and participation in criminal activities. These campaigns are part of an intensified effort by the Dutch government to combat ‘subversive crime’. But how effective are these campaigns? There is an impressive body of literature on the effectiveness of information campaigns. In this article we use the empirical and theoretical insights this literature provides us to address that question. Several assumptions underlying the use of information campaigns turn out to be fundamentally flawed. Although these campaigns aim at prevention, some of them might very well produce iatrogenic effects.