October 09, 2005
War is Smurf
Originally posted by Jamais Cascio from WorldChanging: Another World Is Here, reBlogged by ts
With images of real people killed, injured and/or left as refugees from war losing their emotional resonance, UNICEF has turned to killing Smurfs.
In an advertisement set to appear in Belgium starting next week, approved by the family of the Smurfs’ creator “Peyo,” very bad things happen to the blue cartoon creatures:
The short film pulls no punches. It opens with the Smurfs dancing, hand-in-hand, around a campfire and singing the Smurf song. Bluebirds flutter past and rabbits gambol around their familiar village of mushroom- shaped houses until, without warning, bombs begin to rain from the sky.
rfs scatter and run in vain from the whistling bombs, before being felled by blast waves and fiery explosions. The final scene shows a scorched and tattered Baby Smurf sobbing inconsolably, surrounded by prone Smurfs.
The final frame bears the message: “Don’t let war affect the lives of children.”
In test showings, the sight of beloved cartoon characters killed by bombs proved far more effective than similar images from the real world at sending UNICEF’s anti-war message.
(Via jwz)
(Posted by Jamais Cascio in QuickChanges at 04:33 PM)
