Cecil the Seal Wants You to Own Your Own C

The state of Colorado is currently running commercials to prevent youth smoking and promote kids making healthy choices. The commercials feature Cecil the Seal, who doesn't balance a ball on his nose, but he does tell kids to check out Own Your Own C.

The effort comes from the State Tobacco Education and Prevention Partnership of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and is funded with proceeds from the 2004 state tobacco excise tax.

Plans are also in the works to have an ice cream truck roam the streets to further reach the kids and promote the cause. It's a very innovative tactic, although one can't help but think of inappropriate jokes about using ice cream trucks to draw in kids.

The ads come from Cactus Marketing Communications and were written by Christopher Cox and art directed by Jim Morrissey. AgencyNet developed the Web site, which is kind of a web 2.0 take on the Teletubbies complete with creepy sun.

AgencyNet also saw fit to put its name in the site's meta tags. This is the equivalent to signing your client's ad with the agency logo at the bottom. It's a major no-no and very pompous.

Check out more about the campaign with behind the scenes photos, AgencyNet's blog and the static site, which gets down to business without all of the flash.