This Billboard 'Coughs' When You Smoke Nearby

Another Outdoor Innovation From Apotek Hjartat

Published On
Jan 11, 2017

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In Sweden, pharmacy chain Apotek Hjartat is encouraging smokers to give up for the New Year with an outdoor innovation -- a billboard that "coughs" when you smoke near it.

The poster has in-built alarms that sense cigarette smoke and react to smokers lighting up and smoking anywhere near it, making the man in the picture suddenly cough. Smokers are then given advice on nicotine replacement products available from the pharmacy.

The campaign is by Akestam Holst. The same brand and agency previously engineered a poster campaign in 2014 that made a woman's hair fly whenever a subway train pulled in at a station. It picked up awards including Cannes Lions and a D&AD pencil.