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October 10, 2005
UNICEF's War Smurfs Terrify Children
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.
Posted by Van Helsing at October 10, 2005 8:24 PM
Comments
For something not supposed to be shown to children, many parents will be calling their children to watch the new Smurf commercial because they grew up with the Smurfs as safe clean entertainment. I predict child psychologists will be doing a booming business treating the mental trauma.
All because someone has a message that must be disseminated regardless of the harm it will cause.
I seem to recall one movie that Hitler himself put out, it was so brutally direct in its anti-Semiticism it turned many Germans off. So Goebbels dressed up the same message as a soap opera and the Germans lapped it up.
Lets hope no one steps up to become Goebbels or another Leni Riefenstahl and people get permanently turned off to this siren song.
Posted by: Anna at October 10, 2005 11:18 PM
Looks like we'll have to send in Special Ops Cody to do the job.
Posted by: Jonny at October 11, 2005 3:21 AM
Bombing the Smurfs was long overdue.
Just wait until I get My Pretty Pony in my sites!
Posted by: Denny Hix at October 11, 2005 3:37 PM
