Can Apotek Hjärtat, as one of Sweden’s largest pharmacies put the topic of the dangers of smoking on the agenda in order to lift our range of nicotine products?

The time around New Year’s Eve is the time for making new resolutions and commitments, and therefore a very crowded time for communication from gyms, health brands and diets…and of course quit-smoking aids.

Apotek Hjärtat wanted to stand out and make an impact during this noisy period, when consumer demand was high but the competition for attention even higher.

To make people in Sweden ( and the rest of the world ) open their eyes to the dangers of smoking once again (and to make them switch to nicotine products from Apotek Hjärtat), was our objective.

People smoke. It´s not good for them. They already know this, but need to be reminded of it. Why? Because they're still smoking. Could we, as one of Sweden’s largest pharmacies, put the topic of the dangers of smoking on the agenda again?

In December 2016 we created a digital billboard that actually coughs when you smoke near it, and recommended nicotine products to help you quit.

To most bypassers it seems like an ordinary billboard. But when someone near the screen lights a cigarette, the billboard awakens and the model featured in the billboard starts coughing to remind you about the health risks of smoking.

The global spread of the campaign was mind-blowing. It put the topic of the dangers of smoking on the map again, and highlighted that smoking is as much a nuisance to others as it is a health risk to to the smokers.

We installed a device in the billboard to detect cigarette smokers. Not just an ordinary smoke detector, that would never work efficiently, because ordinary detectors don't always react to cigarette smoke, especially not outdoors. That´s why we used a more innovative smoke detector that actually detects people having a smoke, rather than just the smoke. So, when it can't detect the smoke, it spots the glow from a cigarette or the flame from lighting one up. The same technique is also sometimes used outside some hospitals and gas stations in non-smoking areas. This technique was a crucial part of making this billboard work outdoors.

The billboard ran between christmas and new year’s eve at Odenplan Plaza in central Stockholm.