Pfizer creates ‘floor of cigarettes’ to push quit smoking message
Pfizer has created an installation of 219,000 imitation cigarettes covering an area of Sydney’s Martin Place to raise awareness about smoking cessation.
The experiential campaign unveiled today, will run until Friday, with passersby encouraged to walk across the floor to “stamp out smoking”.
The 219,000 cigarettes represents the amount a smoker of a 20 per day packet would consume over 30 years.
The activation was created by PR agency One Green Bean and has been supported by a media relations campaign, focusing on new research into Australian smoking habits.
Editorial about the new study has today been covered by Sunrise, the Today Show, Channel 7 Early News, 2GB radio, Today FM, 5AA, The Daily Telegraph, Sky News and News.com.au.
Pfizer, the pharmaceutical company, owns the nicotine cessation prescription drug, Champix.
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
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Please. Pfizer isn’t a public health organisation, it’s a pharmaceutical company. It doesn’t want to stamp out smoking, it wants to sell pharmaceutical products to people. It’s just that its target market segment is people who smoke.
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agree with SHG.
And saw this, just made me feel like a cigarette….
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Wow, it’s a thing of beauty. Cigarettes as art.
Completely flies in the fact of those horrid Cancer Institute NSW ads that made me choke on my pavlova during the ad break of Masterchef Monday night.
While I wouldn’t suggest for a moment that Pfizer would want to promote smoking, it’s obvious that the more people who smoke, the wider the pool for Champix. Just saying, that’s all.
That aside, congrats to One Green Bean on a visually stunning piece of work.
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As a consumer who has just quit smoking I am on Champix (which is actually not an easy medication to get) but this certainly highlighted to me the waste of money smoking is. Even as I just walked over the display I would not so much say it is art but rather it is headlights in your eyes that there are options.
Great idea I say!
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Simple. Powerful. Good stuff.
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I am on Champix too…no coincidence Pfizer makes it is it!
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Great work on this One Green Bean!
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I like this, experiential marketing at its finest.
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http://fuckyeahsmoking.tumblr.com/
Agree with Nic Halley. Feel like having one right now.
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cigarettes, drugs, which is more evil….
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Pfizer also sells Nicorette. That said, great execution.
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Personally I’m sick shit of Martin Place being SOLD as an outdoor advertising space for campaigns such as this. I can’t have my lunchtime cigarette in piece with all this crap advertising taking up half the bloody street
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There’s no money in the cure
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Get em off the fags and onto the synthetic ones instead – good ole Pfizer caring about us (profit) all…
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This is impressive Experiential marketing, I know green bean commissioned it but who built it? There is a construction company out there that I need to get in contact with, Nice work…….If anyone knows who the company is can you let me know.
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Hey Red night, The company you are looking for is (Deleted by Mumbrella becasue they’re spamming this site). You can visit their website at (deleted by Mumbrella). I was there when they were setting it up and stopped and got a business card off them, nice guys, call them on 02 (deleted by Mumbrella).
Cheers.
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Red Night and Susie Q share the same IP address.
Which is a pity. You may be good at construction, but you clearly think ourt readers are idiots.
If you’d been upfront and put up a simple comment saying you were behind that part of the work, I’d have been happy for you to get the credit.
But if you’re willing to mislead people in this way, it does make me wonder about what you’d be like to do business with.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
Same IP Address? 20 computer in one large office 30 staff looking for suppliers and marketing companies for clients. So one of us seeks information and the other answers, considering no one on here uses their real name who could you know who you are talking too I have nothing to do with any other companies on this website and I am not sure I will again.
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“Susie Q”, You really haven’t quite got the hang of this comment malarkey, have you?
When you left your fake comment about what nice guys they were, you supplied your email address. I’ve Googled your name. According to LinkedIn you own the company. So why on earth were you asking your colleagues for their business cards?
There’s a difference between not choosing to say who you are, and lying to people by pretending that you don’t work for the company. Do you see the subtle diffrence between the two?
Cheers,
Tim – MUmbrella
So this was One Green Bean’s concept was it? I’m not so sure about that…
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Man you so rude Tim, treat all your potential clients like that do you ?????
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No “Susie”,
Only the ones who attempt to deceive my readers.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
I dont care what Linkins says I have not worked for that company for 6 years……You really are out of line here Tim. I can assure you that you are wrong. No need to comment any further I will leave you too it.
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i’m gunna turn up with a hammer and get me some free smokes… i hope they are Davidoff reds 🙂 Pffffffitzer!!!
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That’s funny, “Susie” because according to your company website you still work there too.
But even if that was the case, that seems like a bit of a different story to “stopped and got a business card off them, nice guys”… surely that would be “stopped and got a business card off them, realised they were my former colleagues”?
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
LOL @ Susie Q. I do love it when astroturfers are outed.
And seriously, looking at One Green Bean’s website made me want to throw up.
Yes, the industry has an obsessive love of flash, get over it. Websites are meant to be sources of information and accessible to everyone. If I sent my legally blind PA to it for the purpose of getting an idea of who your company was she’d come back with nothing from it.
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Classic. Brightened up my arvo
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The outing of an astro-turfer and the subsequent righteous anger that is..
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A comment thread that made my afternoon just a little brighter – Love a good ousting
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I am but a simple consumer who found mumbrella a few years ago and have to say . . . . I love this site.
Back on topic, interesting campaign. I suspect anything which may prompt a smoker to reconsider their drug addiction is worthwhile.
I hope we can get the same traction on another equally appaling drug addiction . . . . alcohol.
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I look forward to seeing who wins the new “Suzie Q trophy for abject numptiness” at the Mumbrella Awards this year.
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This comment thread has been incredibly amusing.
But back to the point, I don’t mind that Pfizer are doing something more accustomed to a public health organisation. I’d be interested to know if they have their branding somewhere on the installation…
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Ha! This is hilarious! Throw cash into the ciggies industry to deliver a message about quitting! Love it!
Who gets all the smokes at the end of the campaign? Gosh! That could be another promo all on its own! Re-sell them to a quit club for a quitting celebration toilet flush or destruction ceremony of sorts?
What fun!
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I want to know who this Suzie is. What a moron.
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I REEEEEEEEALLY want to know who SuzieQ is now.
Come on Timmy – un-delete her details so we can all see her company site and add it to the ‘never ever use’ pile.
I can understand deleting it for spamming offense, but the subsequent indignant performance undo any (questionable) good the spamming may have done.
Uncle Tim – pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease?
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I like it when anon argue with Tim like he is their son.
*tip** Pls don’t ruin Dale Hawkins songs and the movies that are connected with
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@Michael, I thought OneGreenBeans’ site was pretty cool — reminded me of LittleBigPlanet or MontyPython — albeit the text was a little hard to read (no scaling ability) and the overall site navigation is very challenging to say the least.
as for this, I think it looks very impressive — Nicorette marketing or not, as a piece of art it would be great if they can tour this around Australia. as a non-smoker, it would be worth a trip to go and stomp on a bunch of unused fags. 😉
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Interesting idea, but everytime i passed it, people on their way to/from work just kinda look at it oddly and kept walking. Didnt see anyone pass over it or get close to the flyer hander-outer-ers to see what it was about. Despite the foot traffic, Martin Place is a tough place to get any love unless you’ve got tasty freebies
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I wanna know more about what @Long time listener, first time caller meant!
Was this One Green Bean’s idea or not??? Grant they coordinated the execution but who came up with the idea???
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I used to be Pfizer’s spokesperson in this region. Interest (previous) duly declared. This was a really creative and tasteful way to achieve what gross, revolting images on cigarette packets don’t. Hats off to whoever conceived it. Seriously. Yes, I know Pfizer exists to make a profit etc., but as a campaign element you have to set your cynicism about the client’s business aside and acknowledge a good idea when you see one.
That said, I am more alarmed by the awful punctuation, spelling and grammar of contributors above…. wow, for PR-types we certainly don’t try very hard to keep up appearances. Just saying.
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Ha ha Susie Q – caught out big time ha ha ha ha… Mumbrella you should be a detective..
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