Tony Hawk and Other Celebs Join the 'Little Lungs' Effort to Curb Teen Smoking

Ever wondered what Tony Hawk, Terry Crews and Sky Katz would look like if they were depicted as anthropomorphic Claymation lungs in a teen-targeted anti-smoking campaign?

Well, it’s time to exhale and wonder no more!

FCB New York casts stop-motion lung-versions of skateboarding icon Hawk, actor/TV host/ex-NFL player Crews, and Disney singer/dancer Katz in a trio of broadly dark-humored PSAs for the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products.

In each spot, the celebs—well, celebrity lungs, actually, with the stars providing voices—perform with ease. Alas, series star Little Lungs never fully developed because he smoked as a teen. So try as he might, he just can’t keep up:

Oh yeah, L.L. always winds up smooshed, shriveled or incinerated at the end, just as he did in the original ads from 2017. Hornet’s Peter Sluszka returns as director, delivering over-the-top animated antics for a good cause.

Over time, the “Little Lungs” initiative generated 27 million views on YouTube alone. Its enduring popularity inspired these new digital PSAs.

Now, some might find celebrities-as-lungs just too darn odd. Still, it probably can’t hurt to try breathing new life into the platform.

“We believed this was the right time to add a new element to the characters in order to continue to reach the historically challenging teen audience,” says FCB New York group management director Suzanne Santiago. “The support and commitment of topical celebrities will help us reach our key demographic with this critical message.”

CREDITS

FDA
Kathy Crosby – Director, Office of Health Communication and Education
April Brubach – Deputy Director, Office of Health Communication and Education
Gem Benoza – Director, Division of Public Health & Education
Allison Alexander – Supervisory Health Communications Specialist
Merrybelle Guo – Health Communications Specialist
Jomi Kiladejo – Health Communications Specialist
Sarah Edwards – Health Communications Specialist
To Le – Health Communications Specialist

FCB New York
Emma Armstrong – President
Gabriel Schmitt – EVP, Co-Chief Creative Officer
Michael Aimette – EVP, Co-Chief Creative Officer
Gary Resch – EVP, Executive Creative Director
Seth Kelly – SVP, Content Creative Director
James Meiser – Associate Creative Director
Tara Dobson – Associate Creative Director
Waner Almeida – Senior Art Director
Chandani Karnik – Senior Copywriter
Kristen Cleghorn – Senior Art Director
Jen Vu – Senior Content Creator
Caroline Mortensen – Art Director
Alex Krokus – Animator
Laura Eve Engel – Copywriter
Adam Isidore – EVP, Director of Integrated Production
Kate Fixter – Integrated Producer
Jeremy Lerner – Producer
Janice Katz – Business Manager
Suzanne Santiago – EVP, Group Management Director
Dimas Adiwiyoto – SVP, Account Director
Pamela Natale – Account Director
Jared Shell – Account Director
Ally Morrow – Account Supervisor
Jonathan Skewes – Account Executive
Logan Paul – Assistant Account Executive
Nicole Lopez – Project Manager

ITB Worldwide
Maria Conti – Vice President
Alissa Felt – Account Manager

Hornet
Peter Sluszka – Director
Hana Shimizu – Executive Producer
Kristen Labriola – Development Producer
Marty Geren – Producer
Anita Chao – Editor
Sean Lattrell, David Zung – Storyboard Artists
Cat Rao – Character Designs
Steve Lewis, Olga Sokal, Drew Hartel – Environment Designs
Stevie Lewis – Matte Painter
John Harrison – Lead Compositor/VFX Supervisor
Peter Fink, Ted Wiggin – Compositors
Joel Kretschman – Line Producer
Ivan Abel – Director of Photography
Richard Coppola – Motion Control Operator
Michael Yetter – Gaffer
Chris Clarke – BB Electric
Balz Beillmann, Kevin Bacon – Key Grips
Kevin Bacon, Lyon Taylor, Jake Kump, – BB Grips
Matt Somma, Maxwell Sorensen, Matt Christenesen, Mikail Ekiz – Animators
Tim McDonald – Art Director
Peter Erickson, David Assel, Maxwell Sorensen, Mikail Ekiz, Ilya Smelanksy, Camille Labarre,
Michael Lawrence, Ben Kress, Samantha Smith, Laura Noveck, Kerry Coutu, Matt Scharenbroich, Melissa Chow – Fabrication

Honeymix
Eric Thompson – Sound Engineer

We Are Walker
Abbey Hendrix – Executive Producer
Julianne Wilson – Music Supervisor
Christopher Keyes – Sound Engineer