Shocking heart disease ad dispels myth that it’s a male health issue
Jodie Whittaker and Mark Strong voice this shocking Heart Research UK ad highlighting that the disease kills twice as many women in the country as breast cancer, and yet it is still largely considered a male disease.
‘Her Disease’ opens with a middle-aged man in a busy cafe, tucking into a fried breakfast. Suddenly, he begins to exhibit signs of discomfort. He’s grimacing, rubbing his chest – typical signs of an approaching heart attack. However, when the attack happens, it is the waitress who falls to the floor while pouring his tea.
As the camera pans out, viewers see her body lying over the copy: ‘Heart Disease’ – but as her head and left hand are covering the letters ‘a’ and ‘t,’ it instead reads ‘Her Disease.’
“Heart disease kills 23,000 women in the UK every year – a truly shocking statistic. But just as shocking is that so few women know that. By reducing this message down to just two words, making it super simple, we hope to close the awareness gap forever – and save lives,” said Hugo Bone, executive creative director at AML, the agency that worked on the campaign.
The campaign is the result of pro bono partnerships, and will include TV, out-of-home (OOH), print, radio and social activations.
Kate Bratt-Farrar, chief executive officer at Heart Research UK, added: “This is a powerful campaign with a message that we all need to hear. Heart disease affects many women, and our role is to inform and help women understand the signs and symptoms and to take action if something doesn’t feel right. We are immensely proud of this campaign – a brilliantly bold image that stays with you, a real call to action.”
Credits
Client: Heart Research UK
Head of marketing and communications, Heart Research UK: Tom Smith
Agency: AML Group
Executive creative director: Hugo Bone
Client services director: Merope Beddard
Senior account director: Joanna Lippiatt
Design director: Duncan Naylor
Photographer: Ester Keate @ Boutique Artists
Agency producer: Ivana Dzaferovic @ INK Creative
Production company: Stink Films
Director: Ben Nakamura Whitehouse
Executive producer: Jeremy Smith
Producer: Shea Coleman
DOP: Murren Tullett
Editor: Julian Tranquille @ The Quarry
Post-production and sound: Creative Outpost
Sound designer: Nick Angell
Sound engineer: Tom Lane
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