ShishaNoThanks video projects

The dynamic and powerful anti-shisha smoking campaign run by NSW Health pivoted around a series of videos that demonstrated the stark choices available to young people today who may be smoking shisha out of habit in the belief that it is not damaging to their health. According to the World Health Organisation 45 minutes of shisha smoking is the equivalent of smoking 100 cigarettes!

Our brief was to create one video that would clear the doubt from the viewer’s mind that shisha smoking was particularly hazardous to the smoker’s health. Set in a backyard BBQ, this video introduces Tahir who is haunted by what he has heard about the dangers of smoking shisha and rises above the cultural pressure to decline participation in this social custom.

The second video was a response to the community’s request to demonstrate how to stand up to peer pressure when friends are set on shisha smoking at a social event. It also demonstrated that there are many names to the act of smoking but all produce the same hazardous outcome.

The strength in these videos is the dramatic tension created through strong script writing and performance coaching. Inky Smudge chose to work with non-actors for this work, and was involved in the production from initial concept, through script writing, casting, rehearsals, filming and post production, as well as elements of distribution.