Advertiser: NHS
Agency: MCBD, London
Telecine: The Mill, London
The Department of Health is to launch a TV campaign timed for Halloween featuring a young girl who is scared of her mother dying from smoking.
Tonight's 30-second TV ad, created by advertising agency Miles Calcraft Briginshaw Duffy (MCBD), is the latest stage of the NHS' Smokefree campaign.
This latest phase of the campaign, which kicked-off in June, shows the potential impact of smoking on the lives of impressionable children.
The TV breaking tonight, called Scared, opens in a dark bedroom with a young girl saying: "I'm not scared of the dark."
Further scenes feature other objects of children's fear – including spiders and clowns – with the young girl saying in each instance that she is not scared of any of them.
The ad ends with a group of young mums chatting, with the girl saying: "I'm scared of my mum smoking. I'm scared that my mum will die."
Then the ad closes by pointing out that 2,000 people die each week from smoking-related diseases.
The TV campaign is timed to run in the early evening when parents and children are likely to be watching together.
The aim is to promote the NHS Stop Smoking Service, which includes a phone number for a smoking helpline.
Previous TV ads have featured children mimicking the smoking habits of their parents set to famous kids songs including I Wanna Be Like You from the Jungle Book and Shirley Temple's On Account'a I Love You.