'Serial killer' anti-smoking ad launched

Shadowy images of serial killers are shown throughout the advert

A hard-hitting anti-smoking advert which compares cigarettes to serial killers hits TV screens on Wednesday.

The advert, designed by teenagers for teenagers, was unveiled at the site of one of Jack the Ripper's murders in Mitre Square, London.

A group of six 12-year-old boys from the City of London School designed the winning entry in a competition organised by the Cancer Research Campaign (CRC) and Get-Into, a company which aims to create opportunities for young people.

When the serial killer idea, chosen by a celebrity panel including pop band Cleopatra, was first announced in February, there was controversy over its plans to feature real life murderers.

In the past adults have designed the adverts. But if someone your own age is doing it, it will have more chance

Anand Shah, 13

But along with Jack the Ripper, the final advert highlights killers Burke and Hare and Peter Kurten, the Dusseldorf Vampire - a German serial killer who committed murders in the early decades of the 20th century.

The children who designed the advert, Daniel Stubbart, Lawrence Yong, Ishmael Norris, Adam Wong, Anand Shah and Ricky Wan, believe it will bring the message home to their peers.

Hundreds 'start every day'

The CRC estimates about 450 children aged between 11 and 19 start smoking every day.

About 21% of boys and 25% of girls aged 15 are addicted to cigarettes.

Anand Shah, 13, told BBC News Online: "In the past adults have designed the adverts. But if someone your own age is doing it, it will have more chance."

And Ishmael Norris, 12, added : "I hope the message gets through. But I think it will take time."

The teenagers devised the idea, provided the voice over for the advert and saw it through all stages of its production.

The advert shows shadowy figures super-imposed on advertising billboards across London, with the public unaware of the dangers around them.

The boys list the serial killers before adding: "Tobacco now kills more than 10,000 people every day in the world," and the advert ends with the words: "I think it's about time we started taking notice."

It finishes with the words "Still at Large" emerging from a smoky screen.

Dr Lesley Walker, the CRC's director of cancer information, said: "Producing this ad is a very brave move. For the first time we've taken a gamble and let teenagers have their say."

She said the idea had been adapted so as to fit in with the rules governing advertising, but added: "The finished ad remains powerful and hard-hitting - just as the boys and many other teenagers told us it had to be in order for their age group to take any notice."

Clive Bates, from Action on Smoking and Health, said the advert needed to be tested out on the target age group to see if it really worked.

But he said the best way to get the message through to teenagers was by example.

"Being a teenager is about adjusting from being a child to being an adult.

"If the adult world is full of people smoking - people around you and movie stars all smoking - then you're going to think that's what it is to be an adult."

The advert will be shown for the first time on Channel 4 during Hollyoaks and before Celebrity Big Brother on Wednesday which is No Smoking Day.