“The agency and client both said ‘Don’t hold back!’” recalls Outsider director Henry Littlechild of his latest spot endeavor. “They really encouraged to make it as gross as it could be.”

The ad, created via Langland and driving viewers to www.realdanger.co.uk, begins innocently enough: a man opens a nondescript packet of tablets and pops one in his mouth. He is about to wash it down with some water, when a strange - and disturbing - feeling comes over him. Something is coming up in his throat. He opens his mouth to discover a tail coming out of it…followed by the entire carcass of a dead rat.

The VO explains that rat poison is only one of the “Unhealthy” ingredients found in fake medicines purchased from illegal websites. Sponsored by Pfizer, the piece is a warning, not a drug ad. “This was a fantastic script,” says Littlechild. “The way it was written allowed for a lot of scope. I was able to play with it, and, needless to say there were many possible approaches to the execution.”

The particulars of said execution are not for the faint of heart, so those who could not stomach the actual spot might best be advised to skip over the following: “Naturally, we did not ask our actor to ingest and regurgitate an actual rat,” says Littlechild. “What we did was have him stuff a sponge (outfitted with a fake tail) in his mouth. This was the best way to get the physicality required.” Now, for the ‘ewww’ moment: “To create the matching effect, we pushed actual dead rats through stretched latex designed to look like human lips and skin. This was not a glamorous shoot.”

Creating the spot for the cinema was another draw for Littlechild. “Its pretty great to think that the rat on the floor will be 20 feet across onscreen. That’s pretty powerful. And the idea of people having a mouthful of popcorn when they see this - I can only imagine their reactions.”

Reactions have been strong, and positive. Just launched in cinemas throughout Europe, “Unhealthy” has already been covered on British television, where it was featured on the evening report “News at 10.”

Client: Pfizer
Product: Real Danger
Title: Unhealthy

Agency: Langland
Creative Director: Andrew Spurgeon
Producer: Nigel Foster 

Editor: Joe Guest @ Final Cut
Post: The Mill