Burning Billboard

Illegal cigarettes rob the South African economy of R6 billion in tax revenue every year. We needed to show the public that the act of buying illegal cigarettes harms our country in a profound way and encourage lawmakers to act. The R6 billion lost to the trade of illegal cigarettes could be used to build schools, hospitals, government sponsored homes and other essential services. We rigged a traditional billboard site to burn down an image of government sponsored homes over the course of 3 days, then with the glare of national media fixed on our billboard, we revealed our key message. The Burning Billboard made news headlines, became a national trending topic on social media and made its way to parliament, encouraging stronger legislation to fight the trade of illegal cigarettes.