Singapore’s Health Promotion Board Warns Vapers Not to Toy With Their Lives

Have you seen these? Mysterious silhouettes had materialised throughout Singapore’s MRT network.

The mystery had been unboxed, revealing a disruptive nationwide anti-vape campaign in full swing. ‘Don’t Toy With Your Life’, created by Singapore’s Health Promotion Board and creative agency TBWA\Singapore. Taking an unexpected approach, it aims to shift perceptions and behaviours among Singapore’s youths.

An article in The Straits Times (2023) reported that the number of people caught using and possessing e-cigarettes in 2022 was almost four times higher than in 2020, according to figures from the Health Sciences Authority. While this could be attributed to its appealing aesthetics (Straits Times, 2024), a poll conducted by the Ministry of Health, Health Promotion Board and National Youth Council, ) showed that one of the top three reasons why youths vape, is influence from their social circle. This can result in significant health and legal consequences. Laws and regulations form a crucial part of Singapore's anti-vaping efforts, alongside the essential role of effective public education.

‘Don’t Toy with Your Life’ aims to instil a powerful message to youths: Vaping may seem like harmless fun, but don’t be fooled — you’re the one being played. The campaign aims to encourage the public to see past the seemingly attractive facade and recognise the real, harmful impact of vaping.

The creative idea? Grotesque figurines designed with a dose of dark humour (not for sale, and not safe for all ages) – “Popcorn Lungs”, “Addicted Brain”, and “Diseased Heart”. The payoff was a contrast between attraction and repulsion – drawing viewers’ attention in with its attractive exterior appeal, only to reveal the unsettling truth by showing the hard-hitting health harms that vaping will bring to its user when one looks deeper.

“We intentionally mirror the appealing aesthetics often used to attract potential users, only to reveal the serious health risks and legal consequences of vaping. By doing so, the campaign highlights the deceptive allure of vaping and urges the public to reject it.

Recognising our youths' strong interest and current craze in limited-edition collectibles, we chose striking blister toy packs as our visual hook to capture their attention and spark a connection. We used design not just as decoration, but as a cultural trojan horse — embedding a serious message into a format that felt familiar and native to youth culture. By reimagining anti-vape communication through the lens of collectible packaging, we transformed pop-culture visuals into a visually arresting warning to initiate important conversations on the serious consequences of vaping,” explained Loo Yong Ping, executive creative director of TBWA\Singapore.

Beyond the campaign’s core message, the campaign film critiques the perils of social and media influence on youths. This is powerfully brought to life through a fictional live streamer, whose use of deceptive sales tactics to sell figurines precisely mirrors the manipulative ways harmful trends, such as vaping, can be propagated and glamorised online to a young audience. At the same time, it also demonstrated how one can be easily influenced by peer pressure due to the desire to fit in.

The campaign is activated across multiple touchpoints including a cinematic campaign film, island wide out-of-home (OOH) placements and targeted digital and social content during this campaign period.