Unicef Bombs the Smurfs

red-beard · red-beard's Garage

OK, I never cared for the little buggers, but...

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/africa/10/11/unicef.smurfs.ap/

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- Out of an idyllic blue sky dotted with birds and butterflies come warplanes that carpet-bomb the Smurfs' forest village, killing Smurfette, leaving Baby Smurf wailing in distress and sending Papa Smurf and the others bolting for cover.

The scene from a bizarre commercial featuring Belgium's lovable blue-skinned cartoon characters is so upsetting it can only be shown after 9 p.m. to avoid scaring children.

Yet it is part of a UNICEF ad campaign on Belgian television meant to highlight the plight of ex-child soldiers in Africa.

"It's working. We are getting a lot of reactions, and people are logging on to our Web site," said Philippe Henon, a spokesman for the Belgian office of the U.N. children's agency.

UNICEF says it hopes the ad featuring the characters -- created by Belgian cartoonist Pierre "Peyo" Culliford -- will draw in donations for its program to aid ex-child soldiers in Burundi, Congo and Sudan.

The 20-second clip is meant to show that war can happen in the most innocent of places, Henon said.

"We get reactions from all over the place," he said. "People are shocked and want to know the reasons behind this cartoon image."

The commercial begins with the familiar image of the Smurfs joyfully frolicking and singing their theme song with birds and butterflies. Then, planes appear and rain down bombs, setting the houses ablaze.

Smurfette is killed and the others go running. Baby Smurf sits crying at the edge of a bomb crater.

The clip finishes with the written message: "Don't let war destroy the children's world," followed by a call for donations.

UNICEF decided to stray from its more conventional ads using real life images of children playing and laughing in order to shock people, Henon said.

"We wanted to have lasting effect of our campaign, because we felt that in comparison to previous campaigns, the public is not easily motivated to do things for humanitarian causes and certainly not when it involved Africa or children in war," he said.

The UNICEF campaign was launched Friday with the Smurf TV clip and lasts until April.

"We see so many images that we don't really react anymore," said Julie Lamoureux, account director at Publicis, the advertising agency that drew up the campaign for UNICEF Belgium.

"We wanted to show adults how awful war is by reaching them within their memories of childhood."

The Smurf ad will be followed by a similar ad in November to promote UNICEF's "Let Children Live in Peace" campaign.

French children's program Martine and a famous children's song, "Au Clair de la Lune," will be launched with changed lyrics.

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.