THAILAND – If showing rotting mouths, falling teeth and even death can’t convince smokers to break the habit, how about getting the grim message across by using black ink made from diseased lungs?
The Message from the Lungs (Thai Health Promotion Foundation) from Bbdo Proximity Thailand on Vimeo.
The idea is morbid, but undeniably powerful and effective, as seen in this case study of a 2014 anti-smoking campaign by BBDO Proximity Thailand and the Thai Health Promotion Foundation.
The agency worked with Bangkok-based Chulalongkorn University to make ink from donated lungs from chronic smokers. They then used it for a number of visuals ranging from paintings to calligraphy and gave out bottles of the ink, aptly named “The Black Lungs Ink,” across Thailand to raise awareness.
It might be macabre, but the idea seemed to have worked. The foundation reported that over 100,000 people shared the images drawn using the ink on social media, contributing to the whooping 500% increase in quit-smoking program participants compared to 2013.
