The 1-minute, 37-second video begins with scenes of people smoking on the street. In the next scene small children ask the smokers for a light. How the smokers react to the children is the best part of the video. Here are some of the more memorable answers:
“Really? Smoking is bad. You have to stop.”
“If you smoke, you die faster. Don’t you want to live and play?”
“Cigarettes contain poison.”
“Smoking makes you look old”
“When you smoke, you suffer from lung cancer, emphysema and strokes.”
After being warned about the dangers of smoking by the smokers, the children ask them, “So, why are you smoking?” Next, they hand them a brochure that says in Thai, “You worry about me. But why not about yourself? …Call the 1600 hotline to quit smoking.”
Most of the smokers look stunned at this point. Then, they throw away their cigarettes and put the brochure in their pocket.
The ad appears to be having a big impact in Thailand. The number of calls to the hotline mentioned earlier rose by nearly 50 percent.