Dead Smurfs As Fundraisers?

From the Washingon Times:

BRUSSELS -- UNICEF's first adult-only episode of "The Smurfs," in which the blue-skinned cartoon characters' village is annihilated by warplanes, has terrified young children. The short but chilling film is to be broadcast on national television this week as a campaign advertisement for a fundraising drive by the U.N. children's agency... The short film pulls no punches. It opens with the Smurfs dancing, hand in hand, around a campfire and singing the Smurf song. Bluebirds flutter past and rabbits gambol around their familiar village of mushroom-shaped houses until, without warning, bombs begin to rain from the sky. The Smurfs scatter and run in vain from the whistling bombs, before being felled by blast waves and fiery explosions. The final scene shows a scorched and tattered Baby Smurf sobbing inconsolably, surrounded by prone Smurfs. The final frame bears the message: "Don't let war affect the lives of children."...

Philippe Henon, a spokesman for UNICEF Belgium, said his agency had set out to shock, after concluding that traditional images of suffering in Third World war zones had lost their power to move television viewers. "We have never done something like this before, but we've learned over the years that the reaction to the more normal type of campaign is very limited," he said... Julie Lamoureux, account director at Publicis for the campaign, said the agency's original plans were toned down. "We wanted something that was real war -- Smurfs losing arms, or a Smurf losing a head, but they said no."

Don't you just love how it is our fault they are "forced" to use such graphic ads? We've all just become to desensitized to the constant stream of ads they fill our day with. Sheesh.