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October 10, 2005
UNICEF's War Smurfs Terrify Children
Posted by Dave Blount at October 10, 2005 8:24 PM
UNICEF has produced a new commercial focusing on the horrors of war that features the cartoon characters known as Smurfs. Word is it hits hard — at least when it comes to kids, who reacted with wailing terror, as reported by the Washington Times, which describes the film like this:
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.
The 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.
And I used to think Wiley Coyote got a raw deal. Supposedly, the piece would not be broadcast before 9:00 PM, and therefore would not be seen by children. UNICEF resorted to blowing up Smurfs "after concluding that traditional images of suffering in Third World war zones had lost their power to move television viewers."
The original plans were even more extreme, according to account director Julie Lamoureux:
We wanted something that was real war — Smurfs losing arms, or a Smurf losing a head, but they said no.
Somebody always has to spoil the fun.
