BRUSSELS, Oct. 11 (UPI) -- UNICEF is blowing up the Smurfs in a not-so-subtle attempt to drive home the message that war is bad for children and other Smurfy things.
UNICEF's Belgian arm created the controversial ad campaign to raise more than $120,000 for the rehabilitation of former child soldiers in Burundi, the Telegraph reports.
The 25-second ad has been approved by the owners of the Smurfs only if it aired on Belgian TV after 9 p.m.
The ad starts like any other Smurfs cartoon, with the little blue creatures happily dancing and singing their la-la-la-la-la song around a campfire. Suddenly, bombs are dropped on the mushroom village sending Smurfs screaming and running from the inferno. The ad ends with a crying Baby Smurf, surrounded by dazed and injured Smurfs.
The finale is the message: "Don't let war affect the lives of children."
