Any great commercial is born from a single, simple core concept. For Pfizer, we landed on the idea of a ‘turning point’. Whether it’s an introspective epiphany, an emotional crossroads, or something more physical, it resonates with everyone.
Once we’d nailed the ‘turning point’ down, we needed to make the ads to hit hard. To maximise the emotional suckerpunch, we chose to tell four smokers’ stories over a series of animated films. Sketchbook style narrators gave us the ability to stitch together the past and the present, and to visualise the impossible – even allowing us to tell the story of one patient the Champix drug came too late to help.
The characters are faceless and featureless to let each viewer subliminally overlay their own story onto the narration. This worked flawlessly with the compassionate intensity of the narratives themselves. The end product was a series of films that are inherently personal, powerfully empathetic, and undeniably effective.
MASTERCARD
