MUMBAI: What if the regrets of smokers could speak? Policybazaar’s new campaign gives them a voice and a chilling one at that. For World No Tobacco Day, Policybazaar teamed up with creative agency Social Panga to launch a powerful short film that chooses impact over instruction and emotion over scare tactics. Instead of telling smokers to quit, it poses a stark question, what if you don’t?
The 90-second film, presented in an unvarnished, documentary-style format, opens with a deceptively simple prompt about life regrets. Young people, seemingly everyday smokers, step in to answer. Their stories start familiarly enough peer pressure, stress, casual puffs that escalated. But the film soon tightens its grip. These aren’t just smokers. They’re victims. And their regrets? Not warnings, but farewells.
“There was no room for melodrama here,” said Social Panga co-founder Gaurav Arora. “We deliberately stripped back the creative gloss. The idea was to sit you down face-to-face with someone who no longer has the luxury of time, choice, or second chances.”
Unlike traditional anti-smoking PSAs that showcase diseased lungs or coughing fits, Policybazaar’s film flips the lens to focus on what smoking takes away family moments, future plans, and the quiet joys of just being alive. It’s raw, real, and designed to make even the most casual smoker uncomfortable in their comfort zone.
Distributed via social media and creator-led platforms, the campaign aims to reach millions of young Indians teetering on the edge of habitual smoking those who may not respond to scientific stats, but might just pause for a shared story.
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