Advertising campaigns not to be missed: Apotek Hjärtat against smoking

Here we are, back again with the blog series about innovative and inspiring advertising campaigns.

This time we have a campaign launched by a Swedish pharmacy to raise awareness of smoking and passive smoking (and sell smoking cessation products, of course).

An animated billboard installed on a street starts to cough whenever smokers pass by. You can see how it works here:

Even though it may remind us of the “Yawning epidemic” campaign that we discussed previously, it is without question a new advertisement with embedded smoke detectors to activate it (similar to Dove, who used water detection in their shower advertising).

Do you think this is a promising strategy? Do you think these ads are simply aimed at creating impact and virality, or are they a genuine effort to increase sales of the products they feature?

Source: The criatura creativa

Chus García, TBS Barcelona library manager

Tags: advertising campaigns not to be missed|creativity|marketing|smoking