Unseen dangers a bit too vague in HIV spot

This Canadian HIV PSA by ad agency BleuBlancRouge is maybe a bit too slick for its own good. Playing like a horror-film trailer (better than most I've seen), it undercuts its good intentions with flashy visuals that are impressive but do little to deliver the broader message of being prepared and taking precautions. That's a shame, because the "unseen danger" scenarios are nicely realized, with scenes of flying bodies, a vicious beating and a drowning expertly shot and set to a pounding soundtrack with an evil vibe. Still, the fantastical metaphors lack context—this could be a PSA for almost anything. (Maybe it's an out-of-work invisible monkey wreaking havoc?!) Instead of an invisible force dramatically attacking its victims on darkened streets, it might've been more effective and unsettling to show the disease slowly and quietly weakening and destroying its hosts, bit by bit, from within. Via Osocio.

Filed under AIDS, BleuBlancRouge, Canada, Gianatasio, PSAs
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Canadian ads dramatize long reach of AIDS

After seeing these ads, Canadians hopefully won't get their health PSAs confused and stop sleeping with people who have Parkinson's. This effort, with similar limb-filled visuals, is an AIDS-awareness campaign by Bleublancrouge in Montreal. "Each time you sleep with someone, you also sleep with his past," says the text. (The client is Bristol-Meyers Squibb Canada's "One Life" initiative.) Extra limbs: never a good thing, whether you're talking PSA campaigns or cartoon villains. Via Copyranter.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Filed under AIDS, BleuBlancRouge, Canada, Nudd, PSAs
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Cigarettes smoke people, say Canadian ads

This haunting Cancer Patients Aid Association print campaign from Canadian shop Bleubancrouge warns us that "cigarettes smoke people." All that's left of them in the motel room and bistro are disembodied arms that are themselves burning down even as the fingers still clutch at their cigarettes. The message that the addiction controls and devours its hosts is even more unsettling than the stark, surreal imagery. Small details—the impression on the sheets, lipstick on the coffee cup—underscore the point that ultimately only the addiction remains. The rest of the smoker might as well be invisible, doing nothing more than raising that cigarette for a few last puffs before the final burnout. Via Ads of the World.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Filed under Anti-smoking, BleuBlancRouge, Canada, Gianatasio, PSAs
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