Cannes Lions

HER disease

AML GROUP, London / HEART RESEARCH UK / 2023

Film

Overview

Entries

Credits

Overview

Background

The objectives of this film were to raise awareness of the issue of coronary heart disease in UK women, and encourage them to learn its signs and symptoms. Everyone knows that men die of heart disease. But dangerously few people are aware that women do too. In fact, heart disease kills 23,000 UK women every year - twice as many as breast cancer. We had the creative idea of turning ‘heart disease’ into ‘HER disease’, making a clear and memorable connection between the issue of heart disease, and the female audience that’s at risk. The shocking twist in the film, combined with the clever craft of covering two of the letters of 'heart' to turn it into the word 'her', make the commercial powerful and unique. Indeed, at least one life has been saved as a direct result of the campaign.

Execution

An overweight middle-aged man walks into a café. A waitress brings him his breakfast - a greasy-looking plate of sausage, eggs and bacon. He starts eating but soon appears to be feeling ill. The voiceover explains that men like him are classic heart attack victims. The man reaches for his heart - it seems like he's about to have a heart attack. But then the waitress, who's pouring his tea, starts to feel unwell. She reaches for her heart. In a shocking twist, it's her who has the heart attack; she collapses dramatically to the floor. The voiceover points out that although people know coronary heart disease kills men, not many realise that it kills 23,000 UK women every year. As the woman lies on the ground gasping for breath, we hear 'know the symptoms, know the signs', and see and hear the line: 'Heart disease is HER disease'.

Outcome

According to research carried out by Heart Research UK, there were 33.2 million TVC impacts, with the campaign as a whole reaching over 55 million people in the UK. Engagement was high, with 99.3% completions recorded. A OnePulse survey showed that on seeing the commercial, 57% of women were more inclined to get their cholesterol checked, and 59% more inclined to get their blood pressure checked. The objective of the campaign was to raise awareness of heart disease in women, and encourage them to visit the website to learn the symptoms. After launch, website visits increased by 83% compared to the previous quarter, and by 153% year on year, with the 'know the symptoms' pages the most visited throughout the campaign. A member of the public wrote to the charity to say that her life had been saved as a direct result of the campaign.

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