Dene Films

Before smoking was outlawed in bars and offices, the NHS approached Dene Films creative team to develop a campaign that would provide information to the general public on the effects of passive smoking.

The commercial needed to demonstrate that thousands of chemicals, some carcinogenic, were carried by cigarette smoke, but of course there are rules against showing smoking on television.

An innovative, humorous and memorable commercial was developed based around the fact that you wouldn't knowingly pollute the air around you with hazardous chemicals. This involved using a green spray to represent smoke, to show that it gets everywhere and is generally unpleasant. Since it was presented in a slightly comic way, we hoped the commercial would not alienate smokers.

The result was a very successful commercial that had great recall amongst its audience and went on to win an International Health Campaign award in New York.