2012 Winners & Shortlists

The Brief

We didn’t target smokers in general as the usual non-smoking ads; we addressed smokers who kept on smoking in public areas where smoking is prohibited. They’ve affected the non-smokers with the second-hand smoke. We wanted to make sure that they see the message clearly and they know what harm they are causing to non-smokers.

Creative Execution

What makes this idea special is that it’s unconventional & unique, you don’t see such an idea everyday. Naqa needed this new idea because the traditional ads weren’t effective. It was surprising for our target and impactful because of the coughing sound. They were obliged to look at it, read the message and think of what they are doing and yet in a simple, funny and an entertaining way.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

We needed to demonstrate to smokers what second hand smokers feel. So we came up with the “Coughing Poster”. First, smoke enters through a fan, which sucks the smoke inside then it gets funneled into a smoke detector. The smoke detector gives a signal to a programmed amplifier that transforms the beeping alarm sound into a coughing sound. All this has been fit into a poster with an image of a coughing person on it. We've put in places where smokers gather.

Results

15,000 smokers joined the therapy sessions at our NAQA clinic after which they quit smoking within a period of 2 months. This also led to a 65% increase in visitors to the clinic compared to last year. It was crazy on the net, Saudis were discussing it on blogs, Facebook , YouTube and Twitter. Even it was discussed on the major TV Stations and Programs (MBC, Saudi TV 1 & Saudi TV 2); to say how creative and innovative the idea was. Another impressive thing was that some companies has asked Naqa to have this Poster placed in their offices.