LOST IN THE BIG SMOKE
October 30 2008, 12:24 pm | | 87 Comments
Quit Victoria, via The Campaign Palace, Melbourne, wanted to convince parents that if they continue to smoke, they risk losing something just as precious as their health.
Agency: The Campaign Palace, Melbourne.
Creatives: The Campaign Palace, Melbourne.
Director: Sean Meehan.
Production Company: Soma Films.
87 Comments
Extraordinary. I like the new strategy, but not sure about the type of loss involved here. Smoking’s a long, slow painful process whereas this loss is sudden. Maybe it’d work better for a road safety message but hey, who cares. You must watch it, it’s truly mortifying, everyone knows it’s a QUIT ad. Good job.
awesome
Here’s how it was done…. taken from the Quit website
http://www.quit.org.au/article.asp?ContentID=46033
Wow that was really good.
Hmm, I’ve already heard a lot of controversy about this ad, lots of worried people leaping up and down saying you can’t do that to a kid (clearly don’t know there was probably a child welfare person inches away!), but I’ve got to say, this ad has no impact on me whatsoever.
Maybe the fact I don’t have kids as something to do with it, maybe I have no heard and don’t find a kid crying in an ad upsetting, don’t know. But it must be working, because it apparently went through research twice and both times it left the people crying apparently.
Must be a smokers thing, I don’t, so I don’t get it. But congrats on doing something other than squeezing puss out of a tube.
Got a good write up in the paper today, can’t imagine it will air for long after the client reads that.
As a parent it’s hard to argue with the impact of a frightened child in tears. I do however think you should’ve had the mother come back. If you’re going to take the viewer somewhere, show them the way back. Complete the journey, otherwise it comes over as simple shock value and while smokers have been subjected to years of that, they keep puffing away.
It’s great. Who cares if they made one kid upset for 5 minutes. The ad is a ball-tearer. No need to ‘complete the journey’ either. It’s not a Disney movie.
Totally agree with 2:18. The raw emotion in this spot hit me squarely in chest. I don’t even smoke and I’m going to quit. It’s great to see a spot that’s actually kept its integrity ofr a change.
Lovely work Ben and Pat
Brilliant
Great stuff. Well done.
Brilliant. Well done, Sean. Powerful insight – simple execution.
Congratulations to Quit, The Palace, Casting, The Director, DOP and the editor.
Great idea beautifully done.
Cracking. Everyone I’ve seen it with has been affected (none were smokers, so I’m interested if it has the same or greater effect). Simple, devastating, killer line to sum it up. Clever bastards.
Guess what Charles? The audience is quite capable of making the journey back themselves. That’s what makes a piece of communication more powerful.
Well done to the guys, the pussy, medical stuff was starting to wear a bit thin.
Wish I’d done it.
Well done
it’s great. sure, it doesn’t talk to parents, but if you ARE one, it scares the shit out of you…great strat – most smokers don’t really care about their health…but it doesn’t mean they don’t love their kids. i think it’ll work its arse and tits off. well done palace melb!!!
(ex smoker/new dad)
Ben, yes it is because you have no kids you’re not affected. Come back in a few years.
To BEN
Quite frankly you sound like a complete horse’s arse!
why does everyone keep talking about cats?
Hate it. Exploitative and shows the levels to which we’re stooping to to sneak up on the audience.
Will probably win an award somewhere, but don’t like the cost of doing business on this one. Leaves a sour taste.
Make all the excuses you want about saving lives, in my book its a turn-off.
The claim on the quit website that ‘Alexander’ was only affected by the loss of his mother for ‘seconds’ who ‘slipped out of sight’ is bollocks. I don’t care how many cameras they set up – they did more than one take of this for sure to get the right response. I’ve been on too many shoots to know that when there are pushy directors, clients and agency people standing around, you work till you get the shot. That means ‘Alexander’ was put through the real anguish of having his mum abandon him several times for the sake of someone getting the perfect edit.
Gus, the kid is an actor. And a good one obviously. The good ones you can tell to cry and they can do it. Anyway I wasn’t there but I’m sure child welfare was.
Great ad in my opinion.
My wife was distressed while watching it.
She doesn’t smoke.
Interesting ethical question.
Seen it a few times the other night, and the first time it really unsettled me, and made me quite uncomfortable. As a smoker and wanting to have kids, it made a pretty big impact on me, and I’ve already rang the QUIT line as a result.
Well done to all involved. Message has finally sunk in.
i don’t think being abandoned in a train station is the equivalent to having your mother die of cancer.
34, smoker, no children.
Gus, it was one take. The website is completely accurate. And I am not a pushy director. I’m a lovely, sensitive director who likes flowers, puppies and rainbows. And I’m a father myself. The decision to be involved in this commercial was not taken lightly, nor was the approach to the execution. And I recently lost a close family member to smoking related illness which tipped the scales for me. Apologies for the sour taste in your mouth.
As a smoker and parent I find the spot terrifically persuasive. What it does well is play to that fear that everyone in my position keeps repressed in the back of their mind. My only niggle, and a somewhat minor one at that, is the presentation of the quit logo as part of the scenario. I can’t quite say why but it would have been better as a graphic. Oh, and the voice-over. But I’m guessing that’s a client thing.
Totally disagree with 4.43. How can a child of say 4 years of age “act” this.
He is obviously in total distress and experiencing real (not acted) emotion. It’s horrible to watch, and I can’t believe Child Welfare let this happen. Really low. Hate it.
That was distressing. Anyone got a spare fag?
Have sex.
Smoke a cigarette.
Kind of ironic.
I hate these holier than thou creatives who get on their high horses to criticise what is clearly a very interesting and fresh approach to a well trodden subject area.
Yes, freedom of speech and debate is healthy.
I just bet that these same moral guardians of creative wouldn’t think twice about doing an ad for Coke or Maccas or a gas guzzling car or whatever.
This ad is intended to get people to think. It works.
Pumpkin?
But surely we’re still allowed to do rack, yeah?
Anyone?
ANYONE!?
Congrats to everyone involved, this ad is brilliantly simple.
Let’s not forget this kid is an actor. His parents would have signed off on this and probably have been on the shoot.
There’s something wrong with this.
If you wan’t to distress someone, show them a distressed kid. But what’s probably more distressing for a kid of this age than losing a parent forever is losing them for what SEEMS like forever in a big anonymous shopping centre!
You feel the distress of the little kid because in reality that moment IS likely to be far scarier than losing mum forever.
For a parent I think the idea of not being around to see your kids grow up is a lot more distressing.
Short of losing a child forever and still being around yourself , I can’t think of anything worse.
Now that’s a real heartwrenching thought!
5.57: You clearly don’t have kids.
It’s a great ad.
BRILLIANT!!!!
Pumpkin?
Isn’t that the kid that was left at a railway station? A really original concept not!!!!!
You can tell the shoot was for real because of the childs hand movements before he cries.
5 cameras, that is the directors concern not the creatives.
The creatives should hang their heads in shame. I can imagine the pressure placed on client & production to get this through.
Yes, it is bad as the let us shock them TAC commercials.
Anyone would think we are all finding the cure to cancer.
Get a real perspective. It is an ad and a creative wank.
So it’s ok for smokers without kids to die, It’s the ones with kids we need to save.
Ok.
I watched it, I smoke, didn’t work. Have a kid but don’t live with him, anyway, yeah. Nup.
In other news I just reached into my pocket for some care factor and… no couldn’t find any.
as someone who has had cancer, and who has children, hauntingly, scarily beautiful
Who cares, they may win an award or two and that is all that matters
Father of four and husband of ex-smoker says well done all round.
Hit the spot on our couch.
I’m a mother and I smoke. I was so disgusted that some desperate creatives obviously tortured a small child (who clearly wasn’t acting) to ‘shock’ me out of lighting up. What message did I take out of it? It’s not cool to smoke if you have kids but it’s ok to exploit minors in ads and terrify them to tears all in the name of trying to get your name up i lights. Cheap one trick pony. Not clever, just exploitive and sad. Child welfare dropped the ball on this one. Oh, and will it make me give up? Not by a long shot.
Endorsing child abuse to campaign against smoking? Quite the moral dilemma.
The creatives got a brief.
They came up with a novel, controversial idea, sold it in, kept it sold in and executed it very, very well.
Full marks.
Anything that is emotionally powerful will always generate diverse views.
That to me is as much as anything the true measure of a powerful idea.
This is simple and I’m sure will prove to be very effective. Well done guys.
And if anyone is concerned about the kid in this spot, spare a thought for those poor ‘sultanas from the grape vine’ kids. Now that’s child abuse.
This would clean up at the affectiveness awards. Nice work
Fark. I’m so off the durries as soon as I bash out a kid or two. Which will be late next decade conservatively.
Great spot. Well conceived, well executed.
A short note to Emma the idiot creative. Without a voiceover it wouldn’t work. Pull your head out of your dumb arse and stop trying to show how arty you are. The logo is just fine too. As for all the dickheads who think actors have to really be upset to cry, amused to laugh etc, you idiots should stick your heads up Emma’s arse and leave the film making to the professionals.
Love & kisses etc…….
Have a kid. Works for me and 6:51, I’m not 5:57. Agree with Emma on the voiceover thing.
I like it. I don’t smoke, but it’s made me give up trying for a kid.
This ad had such an impact on me that I’ve vowed never to have kids.
Seriously though, I think it’s a fine spot. And I also think that calling it ‘child abuse’ is going way overboard. The kid’s mum was there, so it’s patronising to her to call it child abuse. I’m sure she’s more in tune with her son and has greater concern for his well-being than anyone else.
Sure it upset the little tacker, but it won’t have a lasting effect on him. I got lost for real at a fair when I was kid, and I was fucking terrified, but as soon as I was reunited with my dad, I was OK again.
Anyway, that kid needs to harden the fuck up.
Damn 10:24, you beat me to the punch.
10:49
Arlene, I reckon you should do everyone a favour and change it up to say….3 packs a day. You’re wearing your guilt clearly on your sleeve.
Arlene 11.26PM
The kid is an actor, he was acting. He has parents who would have approved the script. In fact his mum was the mum in the ad. Your comments are typical of smokers who get defensive when questioned, because deep down you know it’s a filthy habit which is doing you irreparable harm.
No one is trying to get their names up in lights, as you’ll notice there are no creative credits. The creatives aren’t desperate, they are paid to do a job and in this case it’s to get people to stop smoking. It’s also not a one trick pony, it’s called an insight. And of course it won’t make you give up. You don’t have the will power for that.
Fucking powerful. Voiceover is a bit “see what we did there?”. But very nice.
Simple. Non scammy. Love it.
I am a mother and this ad brought tears to my eyes.
I am only sorry the Palace did not acknowledge the creative team and CD on the job for some reason.
Why?
I saw it. I felt it. It made me want to quit. Good job. Wish there was more like it.
But if I like it, it will undermine my self-esteem as a creative and as a person.
Arlene,
Your definition of ‘torture of a small child’ seems limited to what OTHER people are doing.
Your defiant, and ‘one fingered salute’ of a decision to be a mother who keeps lighting up seems to me to be a protracted torture of your own children.
Don’t know how old your kids are. However, if they are 7 or over they are likely to have a comprehension of the ‘smoking kills you’ message – which is everywhere. Pondering in their little minds about whether ‘mummy will die too if she keeps smoking’ must be a form of psychological torture to which I would never ‘proudly’ subject any child to.
I smell self created award hype- how very sad.
Arlene,
how blind are you…… hmmmm…… sad, very sad.
ironic that an industry that exploits people on a daily basis to promote all sorts of insecurity and destructive products can criticize a campaign that actually promotes a sense of responsibility. Perhaps if the kid was crying because he dropped his Skittels we’d think differently.
We new this ad would be confronting. It researched very strongly. It’s a powerful communication and if you’ve ever sat through research with smokers it had to be to make an impact. The boy was an actor. Full credit to Pat and Ben for keeping the idea in tact. Pat and Beans are a very committed team and were brilliant working with the client. They live and breathe the work.
CD’s. If you’re looking for gun team look no further.
I smell self created award hype- how very sad.
…whatever Pat said.
I hear a swan song- sweet sweet music!
Ok. Techo point of view. The kid looks extremely greenscreened. And direction is a little bit forced. And ….
Well….
I won’t comment on the idea. It’s not worth my breath (keystrokes).
To deliberately place a very small child in an emotionally stressful environment to achieve a certain result is unethical.
The fact that the child was supposedly consulted doesn’t mean that he had the ability to fully comprehend what he was putting himself into.
I’m no PC person but any body with half a brain can see that this pure exploitation.
All involved, fucking brilliant!
One upset child for 1 minute vs. 1000’s of people painfully having their lives ended by cancer.
I vote unhappy kid for 2 points.
Hell, my kid cries worse than that if you turn Bob The Builder off. So those that bitch and moan about the psychological damage go build a bridge and fix it, YES WE CAN!
THE KID WASN’T REALLY UPSET….HE IS A FUCKING ACTOR!!!!!
IDIOTS.
Re 8:02 am
Are you saying tha if you watch the ‘Quit’ ad you then don’t get cancer? and if you already have it, the cancer will go away.
WOW that is amazing – I never knew ads could FIX cancer. I guess all the doctors, researches and scientists of the world are now out of jobs and can go fishing because of you guys.
How many non smokers find this great? I personally find it crap, but I guess I’m a smoker. But it’s a welcome departure from graphic images – which have been proven not to work. So well done on that front.
Dear Jay,
It may pay for you to read this (it also appears earlier in these comments) before you make accusations of the mental ability of some of the good folk who have posted their observations.
Thank you.
http://www.quit.org.au/article.asp?ContentID=46033
Did everyone at the Campaign Palace have a hand in this ad? Why no creative credits? Does anyone know who did the idea?
Briliant by the way. Effective and creative, will award well.
fact: the small boy wasn’t acting. His distress is real. He is really in pain. Nice work ad wankers.
excellent. excellent, excellent. i wish we had done it.
A question.
At what age do most smokers who die of smoking-related illnesses pass away?
I reckon it would be at an age when their children are grown up and nowhere near as young and vulnerable as the child depicted in the ad.
Just a thought.
Fuck me – you guys worrying about a child crying for a couple of minutes. Are you for real? That’s what kids do. If you don’t believe so, come to my place and try take a toy off one of them at breakfast time. I’m sure the boy got over it.
And if you’re seriously worried about ethics, consider the ethics of exposing your children to cigarette smoke every time you light up.
Great ad.
I was 23 yo when my dad past away from lung cancer (he was 58 yo) and I can relate to the sadness of the little boy in the ad but multiply it by a trillion – he lost his mum for a minute but I lost my dad forever. If this ad stops one person from going through what my dad and my family went through it’s worth it!! Brilliant ad – keep up the good work!
Did anyone ask the little boy if HE would mind being abandoned? Didn’t think so. This small innocent child had no voice to protest let alone comprehend what was about to happen to him. Poor bastard.
So some ad folk create a STUNT where the creative “idea” relies SOLELY on the gripping “performance” of a small child – the same child who has no idea why he is there or for what purpose?
Surely there were more CREATIVE ways to convey the same strategic insight? This seems an obvious creative route/stunt.
It would appear that the young boys rights were never considered…my guess is there would have been more consideration given to the lure of “possible award entries” than any child’s rights.
Disappointing on so many levels. D-
Just saw another Quit spot on air. This time with an old guy tallking about cancer. Tube up the nose but no guts of lungs.
A graphic comes up at the end….his daughter didn’t get there in time before he died…..makes one think
Won’t win awards, but then this one on the blog could only win for direction, editing or sound. Concept…..How many kids get lost at stations or in shopping centres ever year? Not very original and they always find their parents in the end.
The problem with smoking ads strategically is they try and guilt trip or force people into giving up.
And it doesn’t fucking work.Trust me. I’m a smoker / non-smoker for a while / smoker / non smoker / smoker.
The best anti smoking ads came out of south africa. Not sure if you guys saw them but they were cigarette packet warnings on ridiculous things. Stuff that said ‘jumping in front of a bus will kill you (don’t ignore the warnings on cigarette packs).’
Strategically, well, idea wise, this is fucking rubbish. You can’t guilt trip somebody into doing something using an ad just as much as you can’t guilt trip people to do shit in real life.
Wake up. Advertising is not a magic spell that makes people do shit based on certain magical formulas, it’s a form of communication, and a very fucking hated form of communication reason being commercials like these.
More than anything this thread shows that advertising folk are all up their own arse…. great ad sure but props to Quit not the bloody agency.
Hey Uncle Ben,
It makes me laugh as I read the whinging of such individuals slamming your ad because it’s “unethical” – as if to say it’s easier to do unethical ads. The brilliance is in the research and drive to jump through the hoops to get the go ahead.
Nice to see you guys’ have the most comments posted of any ad currently posted at “campaignbrief.com”
Love your work and love you. See you at Christmas dinner.