Butt Free Australia launches outdoor ads featuring real smokers littering
Butt Free Australia, the British American Tobacco-funded organisation focused on reducing cigarette butt littering, is launching its first ad campaign featuring real smokers shown littering.
The “Not a Good Look” outdoor ads, created by marketing communications agency Connecting Images, will aim to encourage the broader community to consider the negative impacts of cigarette butt littering and remind smokers to “Please Butt it, then Bin It”.
The organisation obtained the consent of real smokers to be photographed while littering, with only their eyes blacked out in the creative executions.
The national campaign, which will run until September, will also include hospitality venue advertising and community service announcements.
A new website will be launched to coincide with the “Butt Free City” campaign in May, when a number of councils across Australia will partner with Butt Free Australia on local initiatives.
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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Interesting how the tobacco companies with their no morals ad companies can find ways to bypass the no cigarette advertising laws in such a subtle way.
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I think it’s brilliant – they are actually doing some good with this campaign while at the same time trying to maintain tolerance of smoking in general. Show someone smoking, anyone at all, and more people will want to smoke. All you non-smokers, admit it – deep down you TOTALLY wish you were a smoker!
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Oh Una, really? How extremely cynical of you! Ciggy butts create a massive litter issue and I think this does a good job of reminding people not to flick their butts anywhere but the bin….it does so without hammering smokers more than they already are. For the record, I am a non smoker.
Ciggy co’s don’t need to advertise. People still take up smoking at an alarming rate without it!
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They could use the same approach for anti drug campaigns, they could use a lot of people’s facebook photos ive seen
An expensive photo shoot and re touching could be avoided with a simple walk into the cross on a Saturday night
or a visit to an agency xmas party
I think its a great approach, how is it it legal? What about waivers and that..
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Every morning I walk past the entrance to our office building, and there are a bunch of smokers puffing away in front of the no smoking signs. Too lazy to read signs, too lazy quit, too lazy to think about the effect of passive smoke on other people. And certainly too lazy to look for a bin.
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Una’s right on the money – BFA is a cynical PR exercise and these ads are defacto tobacco advertising.
We’ll believe BAT and other tobacco companies care about butt litter when they organise and fund the cleaning of some of our disgraceful butt-strewn beaches.
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ps…there is no argument for the tolerance of smoking in public places. My deepest desire is to fart forcefully in the face of every filthy smoker who’s noxious fumes i’ve been forced to ingest merely because i am outdoors.
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Yes. It’s an ad for ciggarettes.
Fk me have we all become that cynical!?!
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Pity Australia can’t take on the NO SMOKING on the streets policy of Japan, there are NO butts on the ground there (mind you smoking is still allowed in restaurants – yuk) and there are designated smoking spots. You really notice how badly the litter of butts is here when you return home. And yes I do smoke occassionally, but ALWAYS put mine in the bins – is is not that hard. Wonder if you could start a campaign where the general public could hand out fines to those who do it?? Wishful thinking hey?
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Seriously I can’t get over you people! It doesn’t have the word cigarette IN it!! It doesn’t show someone lovingly puffing away on a fag with a smile on their face with the packet in their pocket. pretty sure you can’t even SEEE a damn ciggy in the shot!!! its saying that flicking your dirty ciggy butt anywhere but the bin is NOT A GOOD LOOK! Which it isn’t!!!
For goodness sake they are trying to do some GOOD! Yes…say it with me
“G-O-O-D..Good!” Depsite what you might think the G word in all its meaning does actually exist…oh wait no it doesn’t exist unless we put an ad campaign together for it.
*rolls eyes*
Message is simple. Don’t freakin litter.
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If you see soeone in a car flick it Claire you can call the EPA hotline…..
I’ve reported someone for flinging rubbish (and I’talking a bag of it) out of their car on the freeway. You have to take down their number plate etc etc. Same thing for reporting butt littering but only from cars :/
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Thanks SJT, will do that, mind you the worst culprits are people walking around flicking them!! What a pig – re the bag of rubbish. Mind you the worse thing I have seen was a person change their baby in the back seat of the car and dump the very dirty nappy in the carpark, I was too horrified and gobsmacked to gog up and tell them off.
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Oh my LORD! *vom* That’s hideous! What is WRONG with some people!
Well…as far as this creative goes……I know what it looks like when people flik it out their window. It looks like this.
I’m not sure if its powerful enough to hit home and resonate with those who do it and make them change their hait but maybe there are more creative executions and a deeper strategy out there that will tie in? Time will tell.
At least they are trying to do something about it I guess?
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I’m going to yell because I think it is important…
FOR THOSE WHO STILL THINK THIS IS NOT AN AD FOR CIGARETTES, BUTT FREE AUSTRALIA IS ACTUALLY FUNDED BY BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO
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Fosters still put “drink in moderation” on their bottles? I guess they have to be seen to do something about the issues that their product creates?
It might be funded by them but it’s not an advert for them in the classic cense of the word. It’s not envoking a feeling that would lead to purchase or use of the product I wouldn’t say. But hey, that’s just my opinion.
Smoking will never be banned completely. The Govt makes a packet on it.
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Just had a cheeky look at their website. 7billion butts a year on the streets here? 7 million of those end up in the waterways apparently.
Surely the options for visuals in this could cause a little more shock value than what they’ve gone with.
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@ SJT – yes I’m sure the ciggy co.’s are running these no littering campaigns solely because they are good corporate citizens.
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@ Una – but do you judge something by the motives behind it or by the effect it has? I think you’ll find most companies don’t spend money because they are good citizens
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@ Una Don’t bring emotion in to the argument, I said nothing about good corporate citizenship. I simply said I guess they have to be SEEN to be doing something about the problem their product creates. I made no comment on if I thought this was right or wrong. Merely commented.
For the record I hate smoking and what it does to people. I’ve lost family members to the filthy habit. However this is by far off the topic. The topic is the littering of the residue of said habit.
Anon says 7billion butts a year? Clearly it’s a problem worth spending money on to remind people not to flick it but bin in. The fact that the money might come from a source that is questionable…….perhaps this is something the government shoudl be funding?
I wonder what the reaction be i the local governments funded the advertising? Considering from what ANON says above around 7million butts would be going in to our water systems.
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Oh c’mon! The whole idea of advertising is to swing ppl’s emotions! So yes, the adverts have two motives: make it appear that the weed makers are good corporates and at the same time, subtly remind smokers to light up another one (while bypassing the no ciggy advertising rules).
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