By ROBERT GOLDRICH
vious installment of this column (SHOOT, 4/23, p. 4), I was critical of developments in Florida that jeopardized the continuation of the highly successful anti-tobacco ad campaign created by Miami agency Crispin Porter+ Bogusky. Happily, about a month-and-a-half later and more than 3,000 miles away, there’s now a more progressive turn of events to report on in California.
Gov. Gray Davis (D-CA) has approved the airing of two anti-smoking spots that were killed several years ago by the administration of Gov. Pete Wilson (R-CA). The ads for the California Department of Health Services were created by Los Angeles ad agency asher&partners (see separate story, p. 8).
The first ad, "Nicotine Soundbites," ran for a few months in ’94. It showed the then-chairmen of the nation’s major tobacco companies testifying under oath before Congress that nicotine is not addictive. "Do they think we’re stupid?" the ad says.
One of the tobacco companies reportedly threatened to sue the state over that commercial, prompting the Wilson administration to quietly pull it off the air. This led to charges from activists that Wilson was going soft on the health issue, particularly in light of significant financial contributions made by the tobacco industry to the election campaigns of Wilson and other politicians, both Republicans and Democrats. Escalating the feud between the Governor’s office and anti-smoking factions was the Wilson administration’s decision not to run another spot in ’95, "Insurance," which pointed out that that two tobacco conglomerates that own insurance companies grant discounts to nonsmokers. "Say, what do these tobacco guys know that they aren’t telling you?" the ad rhetorically asks.
When running against Republican Dan Lungren, Davis used tobacco as an issue in his gubernatorial campaign. Some viewed that as political lip service but now his decision to resurrect these two spots and to green light other new tough TV ads suggests otherwise.
University of California at San Francisco medical school professor and tobacco researcher Stanton Glantz, who sits on the oversight committee for the anti-tobacco program, described Davis’ action as "a significant policy shift." Glantz believes ad campaigns are crucial to stem the smoking tide and to ultimately win the war against deep pocket tobacco firms. He, incidentally, has been an outspoken supporter of the aforementioned Crispin Porter+Bogusky spots, characterizing them as constituting "the model campaign which I’ve been trying to get California to adopt."
Yet despite allegations against the Wilson administration, there were, during his tenure, some effective, worthwhile antismoking ads in California via asher& partners. These include a spot in which a victim of cancer-who’s had surgery to remove her larynx-still can’t kick the habit and is shown taking drags on a cigarette through the hole in her throat left by a tracheotomy. Then there was a push to tackle cigar smoking (SHOOT, 4/17/98, p. 7), and a campaign linking smoking to male impotence (SHOOT, 6/12/98, p. 7).
And those efforts have had a positive impact as reflected-albeit ironically-in what reportedly will be a cutback in the state’s anti-tobacco advertising and PR budget. The anti-tobacco campaigns have been funded by a tax on cigarette sales in California. Thankfully, those sales have decreased significantly. The California Health Services’ Tobacco Control Section thus projects that it will have approximately $43.5 million for advertising and $7.5 million for PR over the next three years. That’s compared to a total of some $75 million during the past three years.
At press time, Gov. Davis’ office was in various stages of potentially granting approval to 17 produced or proposed anti-smoking spots (in addition to "Nicotine Soundbites" and "Insurance). And the new "Voices" campaign from asher&partners looks promising. Stay tuned.
Jury Presidents Named For The One Show 2025
The One Club for Creativity has announced the global creatives from around the world who will serve as jury presidents for The One Show 2025.
These creatives will lead judging for each discipline, and have a vote on the work.
Confirmed One Show 2025 Jury presidents, by discipline, are as follows:
--Brand-Side/In-House: David Lee, CCO, Squarespace, New York
--Branded Entertainment: Malcolm Poynton, Global CCO, Cheil Worldwide, London
--Creative Use of Data, Creative Use of Technology: Nancy Crimi-Lamanna, CCO, FCB Canada, Toronto
--Cultural Driver: Bianca Guimaraes, partner, ECD, Mischief, New York
--Design: Liza Enebeis, creative director, partner, Studio Dumbar/DEPT®, Rotterdam
--Direct Marketing: Vicki Maguire, CCO, Havas London
--Film & Video: Javier Campopiano, global CCO, McCann Worldgroup & McCann Global, Madrid
--Gaming: Taj Reid, global chief experience officer, US CCO, Edelman, New York
--Integrated, Experiential & Immersive: Chris Beresford-Hill, worldwide CCO, BBDO New York
--Fusion Pencil: Walter T. Geer III, CCO, Innovation North America, VML, New York
--Green Pencil: Barbara Humphries, ECD, The Monkeys, Sydney
--Health & Wellness, Pharma: Wendy Lund, chief client officer, WPP, New York
--IP & Product Design: Ronald Ng, global CCO, MRM, New York
--Moving Image Craft & Production: Irene Kugelmann, chief creative officer, DDB Group of Companies Germany, Berlin
--Music & Sound Craft: Joel Simon, CCO, JSM Music, New York
--Out of Home, Print & Promotional: Kainaz Karmakar, CCO, Ogilvy India, Mumbai
--Public Relations: Patricia Ávila, regional director for Latin America, Ágora, São Paulo
--Radio... Read More