Quote:
BRUSSELS -- Smurfette left for dead. The orphaned Baby Smurf crying after the Smurfs' village is carpet-bombed by warplanes--a shocking scene usually not associated with the lovable blue-skinned cartoon characters.
The new UNICEF ad campaign on Belgian television is designed to grab attention.
"It's working. We are getting a lot of reactions and people are logging on to our Web site," UNICEF Belgium spokesman Philippe Henon said Tuesday.
[...]
The 20-second commercial being shown on Belgian TV aims to show that war can happen in the most innocent of places, Henon said.
[...]
The video is peacefully introduced by birds, butterflies and happy Smurfs playing and singing their theme song when, suddenly, bombs rain down on their forest village, scattering Papa Smurf and the rest of the Smurfs as their houses are set ablaze.
The bombs kill Smurfette, other Smurfs lie prone, and Baby Smurf is left orphaned and crying at the edge of a crater in the last scene. The text reads, "Don't let war destroy the children's world."
[...]
"We see so many images that we don't really react anymore," said Julie Lamoureux, account director at Publicis, the advertising agency that came up with the campaign for UNICEF Belgium. "In 35 seconds we wanted to show adults how awful war is by reaching them within their memories of childhood."
Lamoureux said the agency's original plans were toned down.
"We wanted something that was real war--Smurfs losing arms or a Smurf losing a head, but they said no."
The new UNICEF ad campaign on Belgian television is designed to grab attention.
"It's working. We are getting a lot of reactions and people are logging on to our Web site," UNICEF Belgium spokesman Philippe Henon said Tuesday.
[...]
The 20-second commercial being shown on Belgian TV aims to show that war can happen in the most innocent of places, Henon said.
[...]
The video is peacefully introduced by birds, butterflies and happy Smurfs playing and singing their theme song when, suddenly, bombs rain down on their forest village, scattering Papa Smurf and the rest of the Smurfs as their houses are set ablaze.
The bombs kill Smurfette, other Smurfs lie prone, and Baby Smurf is left orphaned and crying at the edge of a crater in the last scene. The text reads, "Don't let war destroy the children's world."
[...]
"We see so many images that we don't really react anymore," said Julie Lamoureux, account director at Publicis, the advertising agency that came up with the campaign for UNICEF Belgium. "In 35 seconds we wanted to show adults how awful war is by reaching them within their memories of childhood."
Lamoureux said the agency's original plans were toned down.
"We wanted something that was real war--Smurfs losing arms or a Smurf losing a head, but they said no."
Yeah, I'm largely pulling a Katie here since the story speaks for itself. But war dead Smurfs were too good to pass up.
We need one of those ads in car commercial form. 