North West short film exposing tobacco industry practices wins cinema commercial of the year award

An innovative short film made in the North West highlighting the negative practices of the tobacco industry, Tobacco Related Deaths (TRD), has won an award for cinema commercial of the year at the coveted Roses Advertising Awards 2010 and is the first Roses Award for Manchester-based design agency Vivid.

TRD, which was commissioned by North West wellbeing and health campaign group Our Life and Smokefree North West, was one of three films designed to target 14-18 year olds – the audience that the tobacco industry traditionally recruits as new smokers to replace customers that have quit or died through their habit.

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Smoke & Mirrors nominated for advertising award

A cinema advertisement created for Smokefree North West’s youth advocacy campaign, Smoke & Mirrors, has been nominated for a coveted Roses Award.

The Roses are creative advertising awards designed to recognise, reward and promote innovation and creativity in the UK advertising industry outside London, with results announced and trophies awarded on Thursday 6 May 2010.

The film, Tobacco Related Deaths, stars former Hollyoaks actors Matt Littler and Darren Jefferies as detectives alongside Hollyoaks star, Carley Stenson (Steph) and former Atomic Kitten singer, Natasha Hamilton.

It is the product of a film competition that challenged the region’s young people to expose the negative practices of the tobacco industry. Along with two other films, Don’t Fall For It and The Machine, it was also released online through YouTube and elsewhere as part of a viral campaign.

Young people at celebrity-packed weekend vote in favour of tobacco Bill Proposals ahead of today’s vote in Parliament

Young people from across the North West today voted to put cigarettes out of sight in shops and remove cigarette vending machines in support of proposals being voted on today in the House of Commons.

Around 100 young people aged 14 to18 came together at a celebrity-packed youth campaign weekend – Smoke & Mirrors – to expose the negative practices of the tobacco industry.

Eighty per cent of the young people voted in agreement that cigarettes should not be openly displayed in shops and almost 90% voted that cigarettes should not be available from vending machines.

These issues will form a key part of today’s vote in the House of Commons on the tobacco elements of the Health Bill, which could see an end to cigarette vending machines and the display of tobacco in shops.

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