San Fernando Valley : Anti-Fireworks Ads Don’t Need to Sparkle

The ad man behind the Los Angeles Fire Department’s anti-fireworks advertising campaign is a lot like his message.

He’s not flashy or flamboyant. He doesn’t have to be. He just has to make his point.

“I know there will be dozens of people who will be hurt on the Fourth,” said Larry Londre, 46, who has designed the ads for the past 11 years on a volunteer basis.

In all, the Studio City man, who runs a marketing agency with his wife, has come up with six anti-fireworks ad slogans over the past 11 years. This year’s is as simple as the rest. It features the single, red-lettered word “FLAMMABLE” plastered across a young child. A previous ad showed a little girl with eyes swathed, mummy-like, in bandages. The caption read: “Fireworks create memories that last a lifetime.”

The appeal has worked, according to the Fire Department: In 1981, there were more than 500 fireworks-related injuries or fires; last year, there were 53.

“I want people to have a good time,” Londre says, “but I want people to be safe.”