According to the World Health Organisation someone dies from tobacco use every 6.5 seconds.  Research also suggests that people who start smoking in their teens (as more than 70% do) and continue for two decades or more will die 20 to 25 years earlier than those who never light up. _{(The World Health Organisation)} 

Most people know that smoking can lead to lung cancer and heart disease causing serious health problems and death, however there are many other less publicised side effects.

Ogilvy Healthworld Advertising approached Artem to help them demonstrate some of these conditions in a very graphic, physical way.

One of their clients is a drug company that manufactures a treatment that assists people in giving up smoking.  Internally they illustrate its potential benefits, by using an androgynous character “Dave” who is suffering from almost all smoking related illnesses.

To date Dave has only existed in 2D, but for this year’s marketing conference they wanted to bring him to life as a costume.

We started by taking a full body cast of the actor cast as “Dave” onto which we then sculpted diseased organs, deformed limbs and body parts.  The sculpt was then moulded, cast out in silicone and foam latex and finished to look as diseased as possible.

The list of smoking related ailments incorporated include: psoriasis, cataracts, wrinkling, hearing lost, multiple cancers, tooth decay, emphysema, heart disease and Buerger’s disease.  They accumulate into a hideously disfigured character.

We also finished the costume with zips to ease fitting medical tags, two hearing aids and a specially crafted tracheotomy collar.

SFX Supervisor/Designer, Simon Tayler, said:

“We designed and built a full body suit which had to be practical and easy to get on and off whilst conveying the full horror of its message. The result looks grotesque but no more so than the reference material supplied by our Client. Surprisingly it is actually quite comfortable to wear.”