Info
 ►Staff
 ►Contact Us
 ►Feedback

Sign Our
Guestbook

Classes

Articles

UNICEF Bombs Smurf Village 

Earlier this week in Belgium, UNICEF ran a 35-second commercial in which the peaceful Smurf Village was carpet-bombed. "We wanted to show adults how awful war is by reaching them within memories of their childhood," said Philippe Henon, a spokesman for UNICEF.  

The Smurfs, created by Belgian artist Peyo, are traditionally seenas the perfect Utopia, a world not hurt by war. The Belgian office for the U.N. children's fund said that they decided to use Peyo's work "to shock a complacent public into backings its fund-raising efforts for ex-child soldiers in Africa. The commercial begins innocently enough, happy Smurfs singing their theme song and playing with birds and butterflies. Then suddenly, the clip turns dark as bombs rain down on the center of peace, scattering Smurfs and shrapnel everywhere. Houses are set ablaze, and Smurfette is killed, leaving Baby Smurf crying at the cliff of an abysmal crater. The commercial finishes with the words, "Don't let war destroy the children's world." 

"We wanted to have lasting effect of our campaign, because we felt that in comparison to previous campaigns, the public is not easily motivated to do things for humanitarian causes and certainly not when it involved Africa or children in war," said Henon. "We get reactions from all over the place.

People are shocked and want to know the reasons behind this cartoon image." 

To support UNICEF in helping children across the world (and the killing of

Smurfs) log on to

http://www.unicef.org/  

Article By: Karen Pownall