The term “smoked turkey” takes on new meaning in an adult smoking cessation campaign for the Washington State Department of Health. The package includes three television spots directed by Richard Sears of Green Dot Films, Santa Monica, for WongDoody, Seattle. Our choice for this installment of the “Best Work” gallery is the commercial titled “Midnight,” in which a sleepy-eyed, middle-aged guy dressed in a bathrobe walks into his kitchen and heads toward the refrigerator, presumably for a late night snack.
He looks quizzically at the fridge from which strange sounding noises are emanating as if something is amiss inside it. Upon opening the door, we find a headless cooked yet now cold turkey obviously caught off guard by the human intruder. The turkey tucks a cigarette he’s holding out of view, trying to look nonchalant.
“What are you doing?” asks the man.
“Nothing,” responds the turkey. “I couldn’t sleep.”
“You’re smoking,” says the guy disappointedly. “I thought we quit.”
The turkey denies the accusation as he attempts to hide the lit cigarette in an open jar of mayonnaise. “I’m making myself a sandwich,” says the turkey, now holding two slices of bread.
But when the turkey lets out an uncontrollable cough, smoke belches out the top of the headless fowl.
“Get it?” laughs the turkey in reference to the sandwich joke while hoping the cough went unnoticed.
Disgusted, the man slams the refrigerator door shut and walks away. With the fridge door closed, we hear the muffled turkey’s voice say, “Good night.”
A super against the nocturnal kitchen backdrop reads, “You can’t rely on cold turkey alone,” accompanied by a toll-free phone number (1-800-QUIT-NOW) and a website address (www.quitline.com). A voiceover urges viewers to call the phone number “to create a plan and double your chances of quitting.”
Fallibility
“Midnight” is one of three TV commercials airing in Washington State and in Portland, Ore. All feature the turkey character–who personifies smokers’ fallible will–caught red-handed in different situations by his human counterpart. In each scenario, the turkey offers up a lame excuse for his unhealthy behavior.
The creative approach sprung from research showing that smokers who try to quit cold turkey fail, partly because they lack a comprehensive plan. Instead of preaching to adult smokers that smoking is wrong or bad, the campaign offers a helping hand, recognizing that quitting cold turkey alone is extremely difficult.
The aforementioned quitline website provides access to a program consisting of numerous resources to help smokers begin the quitting process, including coaches who assist in devising personal smoking cessation plans, as well as other ongoing forms of support.
“We want adults to feel like we are arming them with the tools to quit instead of pressing them to do so when they aren’t ready, or judging them for not doing so,” said Tracy Wong, chairman/executive creative director of WongDoody. “Most people have tried to quit multiple times and we are trying to get them to reconsider their approach. With ‘Cold Turkey,’ we are personifying the problem while offering support to people considering quitting.”
Spanning generations
The WongDoody creative team consisted of creative director Wong, art director Mark Watson, copywriter Jenny Moore, producer Dax Estorninos and account supervisor Annette Wilder.
Rick Fishbein executive produced for Green Dot, with Rich Pring serving as head of production and Mat Lumberg as producer. David Claessen was the DP. Editor was Tony Fulgham of World Famous, Seattle.
Indeed WongDoody has spanned the generations when it comes to getting the anti-smoking message out on behalf of the Washington Department of Health. “Cold Turkey” follows the agency’s “No Stank You” campaign targeting young people. Both creative approaches related personally to the intended audiences. NoStankYou reached youngsters based not on the dire life or death consequences of smoking but rather the nasty habit’s negative impacts on one’s physical appearance and social life, both of critical importance to most teenagers. The centerpiece of the campaign was an online entertainment network (NoStankYou.com) in that the web is the medium of choice for teens.
