`Painfully Cool’

gets infomercial

‘Painfully Cool,’ an anti-smoking psa produced by Toronto-based Images Made Real, is being expanded into an infomercial and going international in ’95. The 30-second spot, animated by Toronto-based Ferenc Rofusz, has being airing in Canada for the past year.

On Nov. 28, Images Made Real will spend a week on the road, traveling to two Toronto-area schools and a community center with a mobile video unit. Kids aged 10-15 will be invited to record their reactions to the spot, which features animated cigarettes dancing and dying to the beat of a human cough rap tune. These testimonials will be used as part of the ‘Painfully Cool’ infomercial.

Says Images Made Real creative director Zlatko Cetinic: ‘We (Cetinic and partner/producer/director Roger St-Denis) have always envisioned an international audience for the ‘Painfully Cool’ campaign. The spot lets kids draw their own conclusions about smoking. With the testimonials, we’re taking this one step further by allowing them to record what those conclusions are.’

The move to take the campaign to an international market is a timely one, says Cetinic, who claims North American tobacco producers are targeting regions like the Middle East, where they are promoting smoking as ‘cool.’