Big smoke: Smoking gets serious

Mumbai – A graphic public campaign aims to demonstrate to smokers the harm cigarettes cause. ‘Light up your lungs’, the campaign by creative agency Six Inches and non-governmental organisation Courage India, features a cigarette-lighting device that shows the damage smoking can do to the human body. Based on the burning coils installed at most roadside tobacco shops for consumers to light their cigarettes, the device includes two electric coils in a pair of lifelike lungs. Would-be smokers press a button to activate the coil, then light up by placing the tip of their cigarette against the hot wire. Over time, the area around the coil becomes black and discoloured, demonstrating the gradual damage that smoking causes. By going beyond a static medium, the device makes a bold statement as it changes over time to more powerfully convey the campaign’s message.