You’ve probably seen the Pablo the drug mule dog advert, created by Mother for the Home Office and drugs body, Frank. If not, click here because you’re in for a treat. 
It opens with Pablo, a canine drug mule, lying dead with his stomach slit open. This may sound graphic, and it is quite a shocking image, but the narration by Peep Show’s David Mitchell is inspired and instantly changes the mood.
David / Pablo then comes to life and meets people involved with drugs from the dealer to the clubber to find out more about cocaine. He’s on a mission to find out the truth about cocaine but can’t get much sense out of anyone he asks. Cue him making a call to Frank at the end of the ad.
It’s a well made advert and is maybe just bizarre enough to create a bit of word-of-mouth among their target audience, 16-25 year olds. The advert aired on Channel 4 on Thursday and thanks to some clever online marketing and social media seeding, it has had over 20,000 views on You Tube in just three days.
I have a sneaking suspicion cynics out there may feel this is just an attempt to jump on the bandwagon of ‘shocking’ viral videos and that it could be perceived as a little patronising to its age group. What do you think?