By Justin Crann

The Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) is taking a new approach to its annual anti-smoking campaign for Quebec youth by reaching them where they are: on social media.

The province’s governing body for high school and university sports worked with Publicis Montreal for strategy and creative to develop the campaign “The Face of Smoking,” which harnesses the popularity of TikTok filters to deliver a strong, visual message about the dangers of this particularly bad habit to a young audience.

The agency developed its own filter for the campaign that distorts the user’s face, showing the potential effects of smoking: yellowed teeth, dark spots on the skin, eye irritation, hair loss and dull skin.

“Young people struggle to project themselves into the future,” explains Stéphane Boudreau, RSEQ’s assistant executive director. “That’s what makes the filter so effective: the long-term health effects of smoking are staring them straight in the face.”

Supporting the TikTok filter is a full-fledged social, TV and OOH campaign across the province, which includes a short, 15-second film that shows a young person using the filter and reacting in a horrified way to the image staring back at him – and that reaction is the exact outcome that Publicis and RSEQ are hoping to achieve.

“We wanted our campaign to resonate with young people in a meaningful way,” explains Melissa Charland, creative director at Publicis Montreal. “We hit on something original and eye-catching that will get them thinking without sounding preachy or parental.”