Heart disease is generally understood to be a man’s disease. But the truth is 1 out of 3 women will die from it. Yet so few women know just how deadly it is. So the creative brief was to raise awareness and spark conversation. We urged women to make heart disease their own cause by aligning it with other causes from history.

In this spot, a woman crashes dramatically through ceilings, showing her moving through the decades from the 1920s through today. Our hero starts as a housewife in the 1920s. Then she crashes upward. Suddenly, she’s standing with a hand drill in a factory in the 1940s. She continues to crash through ceilings to a rally in the 1960s and finally to an executive's office in present day. She leans in to say that today, women can do anything men can do, and there's one thing they're even better at. The frame cuts to black, and then back to reveal her falling to the ground. A flat, piercing tone enters and copy appears over her: "1 in 3 women die of heart disease and stroke." The screen flashes to white and copy appears, "It's not just a man's disease."

A stealth killer is attacking women and we will incite them to fight back. There are 119 million women in America. All are at risk for heart disease (at least one risk factor). Yet only half are aware of the issue. We need to raise awareness of heart disease among women. We need to rouse their collective spirit and make them want to find out more.

Women believe heart disease is for “others”. This doesn’t affect them, they’re not one of “them.” They feel better than the stereotypical portrait of heart disease – seen to be male, sedentary, overweight and unhealthy. Yet looks can be deceiving. Every woman is (most likely) already at risk. She may not see the signs, or recognize the symptoms, but she is a potential target. This is not a danger women are powerless against. This is one area of life where women can take control. She has the power to take the first step and change the course of events.

Heart disease has culturally been viewed as a male disease, yet it is the #1 killer of women. Thus, the American Heart Association and Go Red for Women has a single-minded drive to mobilize a community of women to eradicate heart disease. With this in mind, the campaign was designed to empower women to take the disease into their own hands – just as generations of women have done with so many other issues before them.

The campaign objectives are three-fold:

1) Increase awareness that heart disease is the #1 killer of women and it is preventable

2) Motivate women to make small lifestyle changes to minimize risk

3) Mobilize women to marshal their network of friends and family

Though the campaign recently launched in December and is reliant on donated media, the TV spot garnered significant awareness for Go Red for Women in January. Changes in attitude and behaviors have yet to show any significant movement, though significantly more people “sought out information on ways to manage your heart health and lead a healthy lifestyle” in November, December, and February.

The total donated media since January is $10.4M. Notable placements in Q1 2015 include: The Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, Dr. Phil and The Doctors, as well as a billboard in Time Square during February. Overall, the campaign received 180MM impressions from launch in December 2014 thru March 2015.