Last summer, a Massachusetts Department of Public Health campaign, known simply as "Rick Stoddard," made our "The Best Work You May Never See" gallery (SHOOT, 7/ 14/00, p. 13). Though back then there was the possibility that other states might pick up on and run the anti-smoking ads, we felt safe in assuming that the work wouldn’t get widespread national exposure. Hence we gave it attention in the context of our weekly "Best Work" section.
What a difference six months makes! Indeed, we’re happy to admit that we were wrong in our assumption, as one of the spots was adopted by the American Legacy Foundation, gaining mega-national play during the Super Bowl telecast earlier this week. The lead agencies on the American Legacy Foundation account are Arnold Worldwide, Boston, and Crispin Porter+ Bogusky Advertising, Miami. Arnold was also the agency on the "Rick Stoddard" package for the Massachusetts Health Department.
For a series of commercials that hopes to raise the consciousness of many viewers, "disturbing" and "hard to watch" wouldn’t normally be considered desirable attributes. But when the topic is the devastating impact of tobacco, such characteristics can prove essential in helping to put a human face on otherwise grim statistics.
The "Rick Stoddard" campaign focuses on how one family was affected and one life ultimately claimed by smoking. In this package of seven serialized spots, Central Massachusetts resident Rick Stoddard talks about his wife, Marie. We see her being rushed to the emergency room, where doctors discover 20 lesions on her brain, the cancer having spread from her lungs. Another spot in the series has the husband describing how his wife’s head had to be put in an apparatus that was bolted to a table, in order to receive radiation treatment.
In the ad that ran during the Super Bowl, Rick Stoddard simply observes, "I never thought of 23 as middle-aged"—a reference to the fact that Marie died at the age of 46. The spot shows snippets of Marie enjoying life, juxtaposed with her husband’s remembrances.
The campaign was directed and shot by Carolyn Chen via Picture Park, Boston and Santa Monica. For Arnold, the original creative directors were Stuart Cooperrider, Pete Favat and Jay Williams; the copywriter was Bill Girouard, and the producer was Tim Le Gallo. The spots debuted last year on network and cable channels in the Boston, Springfield and New Bedford, Mass. markets. That initial run came to a close in June, but has now found a new, wider-reaching life.
Arguably the work may have gotten lost in the Super Bowl clutter—and some might contend that such serious fare isn’t appropriate for the party that is Super Sunday. Still, the anti-smoking message was a welcome, albeit emotionally difficult, departure from the Big Game norm. And appropriately it aired a year after the death of Marie Stoddard, who passed away in January 2000, three months after being diagnosed with lung cancer.
During the Super Bowl, the American Legacy Foundation ran another anti-smoking ad—and so did Philip Morris. Regarding the latter, I found the comment of Arnold’s Cooperrider, as reported in last July’s "The Best Work You May Never See" gallery, particularly relevant. He remarked: "The tobacco industry is currently running TV ads telling us about the good things they give to the community. The ‘Rick Stoddard’ campaign is a reminder of everything the tobacco industry takes away."
