DDB Canada Cooks up Some E for Toronto Crime Stoppers

By Erik Oster 

DDB Canada launched a pro-bono PSA campaign for Toronto Crime Stoppers examining the dangers of ecstasy use, entitled “Cookin’ with Molly.”

The spot, whose full-length version online runs 90 seconds, is presented as a cooking show with a drug dealer. Molly is a name for pure MDMA (commonly known as ecstasy), but, as the video shows, pills presented as “Molly” are often adulterated with substances ranging from methamphetamine and cocaine to heroin and even bath salts. “Welcome to ‘Cookin’ with Molly,'” says the host of the show at the beginning of the ad, “today’s secret ingredient is meth.” He adds just a pinch of bath salts to some ground up MDMA, a bunch of meth and finishes up with his “signature” blue color and some binder before pressing the pills. The online version of the spot ends by directing to viewers to the campaign landing site for more information. There are also 15 and 6 second broadcast versions of the spot. DDB Canada hopes the tongue-in-cheek approach of the campaign, which launched today and will run through the end of February, will resonate with the target audience of people between the ages of 15 and 25.

“These party-type drugs have been a growing concern, and Toronto Crime Stoppers wanted to tackle this head on without being heavy-handed, so the cooking show format is intended to be tongue-in-cheek,” explains Craig Ferguson, senior art director, DDB Canada Toronto. “At the same time, this creative still allows us to educate people on the harmful, hidden ingredients found in MDMA which was our key objective.”

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Credits:

Agency: DDB Canada, Toronto

Chief Creative Officer: Cosmo Campbell

Executive Creative Director: Paul Wallace

Copywriter: Allan Topol

Art Director: Craig Ferguson

Agency Producers: Julia Morris, Lorrie Zwer

Account Director: Carly Sutherland

Social Media Strategy: James Ly

Media Company: OMD


Production Company: Partners Film

Executive Producer: Gigi Realini

Director: Michael Downing

Director of Photography: Andre Pienaar

Line Producer: Erik Wilson

Editorial Company: Rooster Post Production

Editor: Jeff Poremba

Assistant Editor: Brett Rostrup

Visual Effects: Fort York VFX

Online Editor: Andrew Rolfe, Fort York

Colourist: Cem Ozkilicci, Alter Ego

Audio House: Pirate Radio

Audio House Executive Producer: Joanne Uyeyama

Audio House Producer: Chris Tait


Audio House Engineer: Ian Boddy

Music: Paul Wallace

Photographer: Jake Bundock

Music: Paul Wallace

Casting Agency: Jigsaw Casting

Talent: Jason Jazrawy

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