U.K. research and support charity Breast Cancer Now has launched a campaign created by London agency BMB, encouraging people to talk more openly about breast cancer.
The campaign is running during Breast Cancer Awareness Month (October), across TV, social and radio, and also supported in press and digital. It marks the first TV campaign from BMB since the creative agency was appointed to the Breast Cancer Now account last year.
In this TV spot, “Real Talk,” a woman navigates life with breast cancer, from diagnosis through to treatment and beyond. Breaking the fourth wall and talking directly to camera throughout the spot, she shares with the viewers her real feelings, in contrast to the more carefully considered responses we hear her give to her friends and loved ones. But it’s in a Breast Cancer Now support group that she feels she can share her true feelings out loud: delivering the same response both in her aside to camera and to the person she’s talking to, a member of the Breast Cancer Now support group, who has also experienced breast cancer.
The PSA ends with the message: “Want to talk more openly about breast cancer? We’re Here,” inviting people who might be worried about or experiencing breast cancer to turn to the charity and find the support to talk more openly about breast cancer.
The :60 was directed by the Cannes Grand Prix-winning David Dearlove through production house Blink.
Matt Lever, chief creative officer at BMB, said, “Breaking the fourth wall allows us to get beyond the sanitized, walking-on-eggshells way that people sometimes feel they have to talk about breast cancer. Hopefully our campaign will make breast cancer feel less daunting and make Breast Cancer Now be seen as the place to turn if you want to talk more openly about your breast cancer experience”.
The new campaign builds on Breast Cancer Now’s striking brand print campaign by BMB launched earlier in the year, which showed individuals explaining how they are touched by breast cancer and the many ways the charity helps people affected by breast cancer.
Credits
Client Breast Cancer Now Agency BMB Matt Lever, chief creative officer/creative director; Bianca Eglinton, creative director & creative; Rebecca Moody, acting head of strategy; Amy Bowker, sr. strategist; Nadia Amico, producer. Production Blink David Dearlove, director; Rich Wilson, producer. Sound Design Wave Parv Thind, sound designer. Postproduction Black Kite
NHS England, M&C Saatchi UK, Director Tom Tagholm Team On PSA Highlighting The Overlooked Signs Of A Stroke
National Health Service (NHS) England has unveiled a multichannel campaign, “Act FAST,” to raise awareness of the individual signs of a stroke and get people to call 999 as soon as they suspect they may be experiencing any one symptom. The push, which is part of the ongoing “Help Us, Help You” campaign, was developed in partnership with M&C Saatchi UK.
The campaign depicts everyday situations where everything might seem relatively normal, but where there’s the sign of someone experiencing a stroke.
A key component of the campaign is this :30--directed by Tom Tagholm of Various Films--which sets up the idea that initially, a stroke might not seem like much, highlighting key symptoms: from struggling to use a paint roller, to not being able to smile when watching TV, to slurring your speech when reading a story to your grandchild. The PSA emphasizes that time is critical, ending with the line: “Face or arm or speech, at the first sign, it’s time to call 999.”
Jo Bacon, Group CEO, M&C Saatchi UK, said, “We want to ensure people take action on the first symptom, rather than waiting for more conclusive signs. To help them understand that even when everything seems normal, something serious might be happening.”
Matt Lee, executive creative director, M&C Saatchi UK, commented: “This is important work. We wanted to explore that precise moment when your world shifts, quietly yet powerfully, off its axis during a stroke. We highlight how a tiny external moment can actually be seismic—an extraordinary gear change, framed in a really ordinary way.”
Director Tagholm shared, “My Dad suffered a stroke a few years ago and was saved from the worst by acting quickly, and by the work of the NHS. So there’s... Read More