Unicef bombs the Smurfs in fund-raising campaign for ex-child soldiers

alyteet · #1 11-06-2005, 06:46 PM

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...08/ixhome.html

Quote:

The people of Belgium have been left reeling by the first adult-only episode of the Smurfs, in which the blue-skinned cartoon characters' village is annihilated by warplanes.

The short but chilling film is the work of Unicef, the United Nations Children's Fund, and is to be broadcast on national television next week as a campaign advertisement.

You can find the video here. It's a bit choppy and in German, but you get the idea. I think UNICEF is going a little bit overboard with this "educational" campaign.

Quote:

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.

Tiny Smurfs 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."

Bear · #2 11-06-2005, 07:09 PM

I'm pretty sure that's in Dutch...it's not German.
Very provocative video. I'm left wondering though, they seem to focus on the plight of children in Africa caught up in civil wars. But, the Smurfs get bombed in an airstrike. Maybe I'm just being overly sensitive, but isn't this a jab at the US? Hmmm...

alyteet · #3 11-06-2005, 07:40 PM

Yeah, the air bombing really doesn't make any sense. If they wanted to be realistic about the effect of war on the children of Africa, it should have shown Gargamel weilding a machete, chopping off the smurfs' limbs.

The UNICEF FAQ had this to say about the cartoon:

Quote:

Is the video about any particular war?

Not at all. It was created as part of a campaign on child soldiers that has been in development for more than two years. While the cartoon is about war, it is not about any specific conflict.

It still doesn't address why they chose to show bombs dropping from the air. "Hmmm" indeed!

alyteet · #4 11-06-2005, 07:44 PM

I missed this quote when I read the original article:

Quote:

Julie Lamoureux, account director at Publicis for the campaign, said the agency's original plans were toned down.

"We wanted something that was real war - Smurfs losing arms, or a Smurf losing a head -but they said no."

Too bad!

Bear · #5 11-06-2005, 07:53 PM

Yeah, I'm pretty sure the Smurf city getting bombed has nothing to do with child soldiers. Smells like euro-self-righteousness...

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