Shine OnCanadian ad equates social smoking with farting in hilarious video
“Do you want to go outside for a fart?” the young woman coyly asks the young man at a party. He nods his head. “Yeah,” he says. The attractive pair heads to the front porch where they proceed to get to know each other over a torrent of hilarious flatulence.
This is arguably the most memorable moment in a knee slapping Ontario Health Ministry ad campaign targeting social smokers between the ages of 18 and 29.
Created by Toronto ad agency BBDO, the commercial warns our nation’s youth about the dangers of picking up a cigarette at parties or among friends.
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Like the woman in the ad who tells a friend “Just because I’m a social farter doesn’t mean I’m a farter,” many young people are in denial about where their occasional cigarette could eventually lead.
“Almost two-thirds of people who smoke a cigarette in a social setting go on to become smokers. So, what we are trying to do by this is capture some attention and have people face the fact that they are smokers . . . 50 per cent of people who smoke will die from smoking,” Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews tells the Toronto Star.
Smoking contributes to more than 37,000 deaths per year in Canada, according to the most recent Health Canada figures, and our 20 to 24-year-olds make up the largest swath of that carcinogen-sucking rate at 26 per cent.
Throughout the ad – part of a $2.7 million anti-smoking campaign called “Quit the Denial” – the ministry hopes to show people how ridiculous and undesirable social smoking is by equating it with equally undesirable social behaviour.
And while farting is a necessary function of biology, it’s not the sort of thing you do when trying to ingratiate yourself into a new group of friends.
Nor is picking food off other people’s plates or sticking a finger deep into your ear canal to extract the waxy substance within – both subjects of similar ministry ads.
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To get the point across in a way that appeals to their target demographic, the ministry gambled by using humour in a more daring way than we’re used to seeing from official Canadian ads.
The gamble seems to be paying off: with over 300,000 YouTube views and counting, plus coverage by news sites around the world.
Matthews tells the Star that she feels it is “accomplishing its purpose.” The comments, so far, have also been pretty positive, with viewers appreciating the humorous elements in the production.
“I'm still laughing… I have never smoked and I dislike the odor that follows smokers and ‘farters’ alike. But this is funny!!!” writes YouTube user Kc Bizzanelli.
What do you think? Brilliant way to get the anti-smoking message across or no thanks.
