Zac, AT & Kiosk create latest instalment in Eliminate Cancer Initiative to raise smoking age

Under the Zac Creative banner, MD & Executive producer Troy Zafer has joined forces with AT Creative’s Andrew Tinning and Kiosk Creative Services’ Tom Wilson to create and produce the latest instalment in Andrew Forrest’s ECI (Eliminate Cancer Initiative) campaign to raise the legal purchase age of tobacco from 18 to 21.
The campaign is spearheaded by a powerful film, directed and produced by Matt Pitcher and Béatrice Masia from Open Spaces, which is currently running as part of a major social media campaign in South Australia.
Research shows that 95% of all adult smokers start before they’re 21 and that if they haven’t smoked by then, chances are they never will. This makes young people prime targets for ‘big tobacco’. Raising the purchase age will make it more difficult for older teens to access cigarettes and pass them onto younger ones, helping to stop smoking before it starts.
ECI is a ground-breaking global initiative to eliminate cancer as lethal disease for the next generation. Through leadership, influence and resources, the ECI aims to catalyse a global movement of collaboration across diverse sectors, from patients and doctors, to governments, academia and industry.
Smoking-related illnesses including cancers are preventable, making this an area of significant focus for the initiative. And campaigns like these are an integral part of raising awareness, stirring debate and effecting change.
Credits
Executive producer Troy Zafer
Writers: Andrew Tinning , Tom Wilson
Art Director: Andrew Tinning
Production Company: Open Spaces
Director: Matt Pitcher
Producer: Béatrice Masia
DOP: Mick McDermott
Sound design: Nick Gallagher – Brainestorm
Post production: Joel Taylor (Editor), Steve Vojkovic (Colourist) – Boogie Monster

3 Comments
…but raising the age still says its ‘OK’ to smoke… it implies its only harmful when you’re young. How is it not harmful when you’re older? Do you build up a resistance? Become immune? Cease to be affected by smoking related illness because you’re older? Does passive smoke bother people less after a certain age? When one person smokes… so does everyone around them regardless of age or the cost of cigarettes… its all a bit soft.
The message here is pretty clear. Tobacco is a killer and there are plenty of traditional anti-smoking ads out there that are doing the job of telling you that. What I get from watching this is that it’s about protecting young people from smoking related illnesses by doing something to break the cycle of addiction that leads to them. There’s nothing in this ad that condones smoking or suggests that the older you get the less harmful it becomes. You’re clutching at straws to find fault when you should be applauding the efforts of Mr. Forrest’s foundation to effect positive change.
How odd that you missed the point entirely.