The Finnish Cancer Association wanted to target youth with an anti-smoking campaign. So we set up a chain of fashionable Coffin Shops in the biggest shopping malls, where smoking teenagers could test drive a real coffin.

The kids were photographed and their images appeared right away on a website. Online one could instantly start to quit smoking with a mobile mini-blog. A smoker can be in real time contact with his peers 24/7 by a mobile phone or PC. So the personal support group is always in his pocket where the pack of cigarettes used to be.

We had no budget for nationwide media advertising to get exposure for Coffin Shop. But the Big Brother TV show is a huge phenomenon in Finland and its core audience is exactly the same as Coffin Shop’s.

Our pink coffin became a nationwide television celebrity overnight once it entered Big Brother as the weekly assignment. The contestants where forced to quit smoking and complete daily tasks around the coffin. They spread anti-smoking message live on national television.

Supported by PR and ambient campaigns Coffin Shop and its anti-smoking became popular culture, considered cool by the target audience.