It’s somehow ironically fitting that with Big Tobacco preying on youngsters, the Utah Department of Health has debuted a campaign that features a pair of predators looking to save kids from the perils of smoking. In this two-spot campaign, the predators are cartoon vultures—conceived by Crowell Advertising, Marketing & PR, Salt Lake City—that are meant to appeal to children under the age of eight.
The ads consist of simple animation—black line art on a white background. "Vulture I" opens on a desert setting. The two scavenger birds are perched on a mountain overlooking a road, waiting for their next meal. Dinner seems just on the horizon when the vultures spy a mouse crossing the road as a speeding truck approaches. Much to the chagrin of the birds, however, the truck is too high off the ground and literally passes over the mouse, who emerges unscathed.
Not to worry, though, because a more substantial entrée—an inattentive man—is about to cross the road with a fast-moving vehicle bearing down on him. The vultures gleefully jump up and down in anticipation of what seems to be the inevitable. The guy makes it safely across the street, however, just as the big-rig truck whizzes past.
Again, the vultures are thwarted, but hope comes alive again when the same man lights up a cigarette and starts to puff. Within seconds, he drops dead. Eating utensils in hand, the vultures run down the side of the mountain; one of the birds is wearing a chef’s hat.
A child’s voiceover takes over, and the scene switches over to a road sign depicting a skull with a cigarette dangling from its mouth. "The Truth" is written underneath the sign. The voiceover then reads the slogan on the screen: "Smoking. It’s A Dangerous Road."
The spot then returns to the feasting birds. As they chomp away, one vulture says to the other, "Tastes like chicken."
The second spot, "Vulture II," has the vultures giving away free cigarettes from a makeshift roadside stand. Some youngsters turn down the offer, but a grownup goes for the freebie. He puffs away and then stops, causing the birds to wonder if they are going to see the fruits of their scheme. The man, however, is preoccupied with the cigarette and doesn’t notice that he’s in the path of an oncoming truck, which runs him over. For the vultures, dinner is served. After the same slogan appears, the birds are seen arguing about who gets the wishbone.
Both spots were produced by Magnetic Dreams, a Nashville-based animation studio, for the Utah Department of Health’s Tobacco Prevention and Control Program. Director/animator/artist/editor was Magnetic Dreams’ Rickey Boyd. ToonBoom software and Adobe AfterEffects were used to complete the campaign. Boyd described the look as "kind of a squiggly-line style of 2-D animation." Audio mixer/sound designer was Richard Chisum of Chisum Music, Nashville.
Crowell’s team on the spots consisted of agency principal Tracy Crowell, creative director/copywriter/art director/producer Chip Haskell and writer Darrell Smith.
Jana Kettering, director of public information for the Utah Department of Health, said this campaign marks the first time that the Tobacco Prevention and Control Program has ever specifically targeted children under eight years old with mass-media messages. Another first is the anti-smoking client’s decision to use animation. "It was time to break some new ground in our prevention efforts," related Kettering. "We are using a fun way to get a very serious message across."
