“tomosnote” is a community started by Aflac, a cancer insurance company to support cancer patients

Our mission was to provide a place for cancer patients to make them realize that they are not alone.

By communicating this message, our aim was also to earn the understanding from families, friends and those around cancer patients of the pain and loneliness that they are going through.

We produced a branded movie depicting the emotions of cancer patients by illustrating the loneliness and worries that they go through as a “marathon that suddenly begins with no start line”.

According to research by National Cancer Center Japan, 75% of cancer patients feel that cancer treatment is a lonely fight, and suffer from psychological stress.

On the other hand, research shows that many feel that connections with other cancer patients help them emotionally as they can let out and share the kinds of worries and troubles that they cannot with their family and friends.

We approached this insight to aim and create a story depicting the loneliness that the patients go through, but in the end, realizing that cancer treatment is not a lonely fight.

We produced a branded movie depicting the emotions of cancer patients by illustrating the loneliness and worries that they go through as a “marathon that suddenly begins with no start line”.

Women in different places suddenly receive a marathon bib along with their medical examination results.

(The figures on their bib show the yearly number of new cancer patients in Japan)

They hear a start pistol being fired, and head outside without knowing where to go.

The women running in empty roads depict the loneliness of nobody understanding their pain.

But as they keep running, they encounter other runners and realize they are not the only ones fighting cancer.

They also see their families, doctors, friends supporting them from the roadside.

This leads to the message from “tomosnote” (Aflac’s supporting community for cancer patients) that cancer treatment is not a lonely path.

The branded movie realistically depicting the emotions of cancer patients became a popular topic between cancer patients and people around them. This resulted in an increase of the number of users by five times.

In addition, not only was this movie used as a TVC and online film, it is now used in seminars conducted throughout the country targeting cancer patients as a movie that can take away their worries.