Anomaly Londonulls Oli+Alex Take On The Tobacco Industry

David vs Goliath. Hugh Grant vs News International. Wolverine vs The Hulk. We all love a story of the little guy sticking one to 'the man', so it's no surprise that Anomaly London ECDs Oli + Alex (Oli Beale and Alex Holder)'s new non-agency project 'Us V Them' is well-set to rouse the attention. A collaborative project to target some of the world's biggest bad guys and create positive behaviour change, 'Us V Them' is the duo's provocative attempt to harness the skills of the creative industry to tackle pressing social issues.

First on their hit list is big tobacco. 'I Can't Wait Til You're Legal' is an online vid that shines a light on the tobacco industry's reliance on young generations of smokers taking up the habit. Designed to be shared with teenagers on their 14th birthday, it depicts an extremely creepy middle-aged tobacco executive counting the days until 14 year olds are 'legal', including an unforgettable rendition of 'Happy Birthday to You'.

We were intrigued by the pair's mission, especially the promise of the collective's meetings every few months in secret locations, with a view to identifying future targets and causes they feel passionate about, so grabbed a few moments with Oli to get a handle on the uprising.



Tell us about Us V Them. Why did you start the campaigning platform?

An enemy is a powerful thing. We felt that anti-smoking communications had been picking the wrong battles. Anti-smoking initiatives often left me (as a smoker) feeling like the enemy. I was made to feel like a weak idiot for choosing to smoke. I've seen some work recently that has made celebrities that smoke into the enemy. Again, we felt this wasn't quite the right target. Leave them alone. The enemy in smoking is obvious isn't it? The tobacco industry. We felt it was time to get that message out.

The ethos seems to be utilising the skills of top creatives to tackle important issues. Did this stem from something you'd spoken about within the industry previously? How are you assembling the collective?

Alex and I have always had a personal project on the go. Some of them work, some of them don't. Some are serious. Some are silly. It often stems from us trying to tackle some sort of injustice. Alex is trying to end the pay gap between men and women. I'm currently trying to get the British train system in order with some absurd plans for a new type of train.

We've always tried to encourage people to make their own projects. The other day I thought I'd come up with a great motto – 'Just Do It'

Your first target is the tobacco industry, with a sinister and witty video. Was there any doubt that this would be the primary subject? Was the creative imagined before the platform or the other way around?

A bit of both. We've been wanting to start a platform for creative people to come together regardless of where they work for a while. At the same time we were thinking about ideas for an anti-tobacco campaign. It seemed like an obvious fit.

The film is pretty chilling in its presentation and subject matter – particularly its allusions to child grooming. Was there ever any worry that the subject-matter may be misconstrued? Was it a tough process to lock down the script?

I don't think a client would ever buy this script. It's one of the reasons we wanted to create our own platform. We can experiment with things and not risk the reputations of established organisations.

Did you shoot the spot yourselves? We imagine that casting a piece like this is vital, as the delivery of the script is the crux of the film. How did you find your scary man?

Sara Dunlop from Rattling Stick shot it. She's part of the Us V Them gang. I was blown away by how cinematic she made such a simple looking shot. The car lights on his face were her genius touch. He was found after several rounds of casting. He's a great actor who believed in the project enough to play such a dark role.



Are you making these films with a specific audience in mind? Who would you like to get the films in front of?

Each project will be different. For this one we want young people to see it and picture the tobacco industry when they think of smoking. We also want creative people to see it, so they'll offer to join us.

Are you planning on mostly working within video, or will the projects dictate the platform?

Definitely not. We'll start with the idea and work out the best way of implementing it. PR will always be a big part of what we do though. At some point soon we'll start looking for sponsors but even then we're never going to have big media budgets so it'll have to be earned.

By targeting the big-boys and assembling a crack team, are you effectively becoming the ad industry's A-Team? If so, who's BA?

Sara is definitely BA. She would easily kick the living crap out of me in a fight.



Your work thus far, both professional (the Kaiser Cheifs' project) and personal (the Branson letter) has a cheeky, disruptive edge to it. Do you see yourselves as 'mischief makers'?

You can't really call yourself mischievous can you? It's like saying, "I'm a bit wacky!!!". Both those projects were born out of wanting to change something that we didn't think was right. There's no reason you can't have fun trying to do it.

Your day-job/alter-egos are ECDs at Anomaly. How does the US V Them work fit in with this? Are you worried that one may interfere with the other in some way (i.e. a tobacco company rejecting your talents)?

Haha. We'd never pitch for a tobacco company. This project is very much a personal mission. We love people at Anomaly having their own personal projects. We prefer keeping the company out of things like this though. It's our experiment and if it fucks up it's on our heads completely.

What's up next for you – who's next on the hit-list?

We've got another enemy in our sights. Not saying who or what it is yet. You'll have to join us and come to our next meeting. Might stick with the tobacco industry for a while though. I reckon the fight has only just begun with them.