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Kids' faces projected on air pollution send creepy, powerful message

The ghostlike faces of young children hanging on smokestack streams in China brings home the threats of air pollution in a striking way.

Michael Franco
Freelancer Michael Franco writes about the serious and silly sides of science and technology for CNET and other pixel and paper pubs. He's kept his fingers on the keyboard while owning a B&B in Amish country, managing an eco-resort in the Caribbean, sweating in Singapore, and rehydrating (with beer, of course) in Prague. E-mail Michael.
Michael Franco

According to one report, 1.2 million people in China die prematurely from conditions related to air pollution every year. To underscore the issue, an air purifier company there called Xiao Zhu has taken a unique approach.

It projected the faces of young children in various stages of distress on smoke streaming from smokestacks at night and recorded the results in the above video, titled "Breathe Again." The effect is super creepy and super effective. Seeing the incorporeal, pained expressions just hanging in the air definitely grabs attention and gets the point across that yes, kids are breathing in everything we pump into the air.

In the video, Xiao Zhu puts the number of deaths from air pollution at 500,000 and ends the short video with the message: "Clean the air. Let the future breathe again."

It's widely understood that environmental pollution is a serious health threat in China, so any campaign that calls attention to the problem is likely a like a good idea. Of course, the fact that it might help the company sell air purifiers certainly plays into the campaign.

The campaign appeared on Designboom, where one fan of the antipollution video had this to say in the comments: "Excellent! There should be more of this. Images of poor people on bank buildings...much potential."

How about you? Any other thoughts on how such a campaign could be used? Add your comments below.