Sunday, October 09, 2005
Unicef bomb the Smurfs
From the Telegraph, via Spiritof1976 comes the news of Unicef bombing the Smurfs:
It's a pretty sad reflection of the lack of empathy and humanity in parts of society that people no longer connect with the suffering of actual children and that adverts - for a very worthy cause - have to tap into their own childhood memories in order to move them. In this respect it's not about child soldiers in Burundi it all about me me me.
Alternatively, upon watching this film i'm sure there will be many who will just see the images of Smurfs being bombed and think "take that you little blue bastards!"
UPDATE 14/10: Thanks to Wirthy in the comments box who found this footage of the advert from Belgian TV.
The short film pulls no punches. It opens with the Smurfs dancing, hand-in-hand, around a campfire and singing the Smurf song. Bluebirds flutter past and rabbits gambol around their familiar village of mushroom- shaped houses until, without warning, bombs begin to rain from the sky.Tiny Smurfs scatter and run in vain from the whistling bombs, before being felled by blast waves and fiery explosions. The final scene shows a scorched and tattered Baby Smurf sobbing inconsolably, surrounded by prone Smurfs.
The final frame bears the message: "Don't let war affect the lives of children."
It is intended as the keystone of a fund-raising drive by Unicef's Belgian arm, to raise £70,000 for the rehabilitation of former child soldiers in Burundi.
Philippe Henon, a spokesman for Unicef Belgium, said his agency had set out to shock, after concluding that traditional images of suffering in Third World war zones had lost their power to move television viewers. "It's controversial," he said. "We have never done something like this before but we've learned over the years that the reaction to the more normal type of campaign is very limited."
The advertising agency behind the campaign, Publicis, decided the best way to convey the impact of war on children was to tap into the earliest, happiest memories of Belgian television viewers. They chose the Smurfs, who first appeared in a Belgian comic in 1958.
It's a pretty sad reflection of the lack of empathy and humanity in parts of society that people no longer connect with the suffering of actual children and that adverts - for a very worthy cause - have to tap into their own childhood memories in order to move them. In this respect it's not about child soldiers in Burundi it all about me me me.
Alternatively, upon watching this film i'm sure there will be many who will just see the images of Smurfs being bombed and think "take that you little blue bastards!"
UPDATE 14/10: Thanks to Wirthy in the comments box who found this footage of the advert from Belgian TV.
