Having hit the snooze button, the next voice I heard was Anthony Hicks talking about smoking and the effect it has had on his health.
My attention was caught straight away. The sound and tempo of the ad stood out from the banter of breakfast radio and the quiet, rasping quality of Anthony's voice meant I had to listen closely to what had interrupted my usual routine. I learned that Anthony was dying of throat cancer and I found it so difficult to hear him because the 58-year-old had had a laryngectomy. Anthony goes on to explain: 'They call it throat cancer. They have come in and removed my voice box.' He is speaking through a hole in his throat.
This 40-second ad by Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO uses Anthony's own words.
He knows he has not got long to live and that smoking will cut short his life.
The Department of Health has harnessed all of radio's unique strengths.
There is no script as such; the creatives just talked to Anthony in his hospital bed and recorded the conversation, a treatment that understands the nature of the medium. It creates cut-through not only by the nature of the material, but by the 'real' nature of the conversation. The fact that the words are barely audible means you really feel you are eavesdropping on a tragic warning.
Having heard the ad many times since, I realise that the placement of the commercials cleverly reaches listeners at key times during the day when people are most likely to be considering lighting up - first thing in the morning, during a coffee break at 11am and just after lunch.
This is a hard ad to listen to - a fact acknowledged in the final voiceover: 'Anthony Hicks also found it difficult to listen when people warned him to stop smoking. Sadly, he died of throat cancer last year.'
It sounds trite to admit that I had to go straight outside for a fag to cheer me up. Seriously, however, my 'conversation' with Anthony has given me renewed commitment to kick the habit. I even made a note of the helpline number at the end of the ad.
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