This is one of those rare occasions in life when I scratch my head and say "uh, just how do I feel about this insanity?"
UNICEF (United Nations Children Fund) has made a short film in an effort to educate the public on the effects of war on children. The film which is being aired in Belgium, shows a Smurf holocaust. Yeah, seriously. Whistling bombs pummel the Smurf village into a mushroom-house inferno while Smurfs scamper for their little blue lives. While some of the frolicking Smurfs are instantly incinerated, others lay dead and dying around a wailing and somewhat marshmallow toasted Baby Smurf. The clip I saw looks like the middle panel of Hieronymus Bosch's Haywain Triptych.
Sounds rather un-smurfy to me.
The advertising agency, Publicis, says they wanted to show a Smurfy arm being ripped off and a Smurfy decapitation but their client nixed that. Good thing, methinks, because although the clip is not to be shown until after 9:00 p.m., apparently some Belgium children who stay up late or catch the six o'clock news were reported shrieking in terror when they accidentally saw the blue carnage.
The ad got the Smurf seal of approval from the family of the Smurfs' creator and from the official Smurf fan club so while I kind of shudder at the whole Smurf-kind annihilation angle, somebody seems to think it will raise money for the rehabilitation of former child soldiers in Burandi. Hmm. Good luck with that. I hope it goes the way they plan.
I am left wondering though if those kids who were traumatized by the accidental viewing of the clip stuck around long enough to read the final message on the 25 second short... it says "Don't Let War Affect the Lives of Children".
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