Pancreatic cancer: the killer in the back seat

Here's a spot for the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research that might make your skin crawl. Now, personifying death and disease is old hat, but this grim-reaper variation from New York agency Gardner Nelson wields a particularly sharp scythe. The world-weary, understated performance by the "serial killer" in the rear of the car—he notes that the driver, Dan, will be dead in six months, then disinterestedly adds that he has "35,000 other people to kill this year"—is chillingly effective. Plus, he introduces himself up front as pancreatic cancer, which makes him all the more menacing, and saves the spot from a cheap "surprise" ending. Dan, of course, doesn't see the threat, so he keeps driving. You want to shout at the screen: Death's in the back seat!

—Posted by David Gianatasio

January 12, 2009 in Freaky, Gardner Nelson, Gianatasio, Health, Lustgarten Foundation | Permalink