An essential prerequisite for any charity advertising is the need to create significant awareness, with a comparatively insignificant budget. Over the years, we’ve championed numerous worthy causes with advertising we like to think, is worthy of the cause. Ash being a case in point. The key dangers of smoking have been well documented. But the hidden effects, such as its impact on male impotence and other antisocial aspects are largely undersold and undertold. So our first campaign focused on the fact that smoking has been associated with increased sperm abnormalities and is a cause of impotence.
Unfortunately, 88% of smokers are unaware of the dangers and a staggering 120,000 UK men are impotent as a direct consequence of smoking. To raise awareness of the problem, we created a graphic visual metaphor coupled with the arresting headline ‘smokers make poor swimmers’. The client was so pleased with the response to this execution, it became the first in a series of communications created by Clear. An interesting side effect has been the fact that this campaign has also garnered numerous advertising awards, dramatically raising the profile of Ash in the process.