- Eli Lilly is highlighting Alzheimer’s awareness with a new campaign featuring a touching short film, a large-scale partnership with Conde Nast and advocacy from actors Mandy Moore and Julianne Moore.
- The campaign is intended to highlight both the patient’s and caregiver’s experiences in coping with the disease, which affects about one out of every nine Americans who are 65 and over.
- The campaign centers on the importance of shared memories and spending time with loved ones through both the good days and bad days that occur as the disease runs its course.
The centerpiece of the new campaign is a short film created by agency Wieden + Kennedy that depicts an older couple, in which the wife is affected by Alzheimer’s. Told in a non-linear style, the film moves back and forth between earlier days when the woman was full of life and later days when the disease has taken hold.
The film contrasts those earlier times where the woman experiences small, joyful moments of life, like playing with grandchildren and helping her husband tie his tie, with later, more trying moments, such as the husband helping his wife with daily tasks and confusion with familiar places, like her own home. “Alzheimer’s means good days and bad days. We’ve been fighting for more than 30 years because the good days matter,” reads onscreen text at the end of the spot.
The spot made its debut over the weekend, running in the final spot before showings of “Wicked: For Good (Part Two).” It will also be featured during the broadcast of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, with support from out-of-home placements. The two media buys are intended to reach multigenerational audiences with the hope of spurring conversations about cognitive health and the early detection of Alzheimer’s.
Elsewhere, the campaign will include a partnership with Conde Nast that will include placements in titles such as Vogue, The New Yorker, Glamour and GQ, as well as a presence at events such as the Man of the Year and Woman of the Year celebrations and New Yorker Fest. The campaign will also leverage the star power of Mandy Moore and Julianne Moore (not related), who have both played characters dealing with Alzheimer’s, as well as Patrick Schwarzenegger, who has had personal experience caring for family with the disease.
The company also reportedly partnered with actor Chris Hemsworth on a television program, A Road Trip to Remember, that depicts the actor and his father, who has early-stage Alzheimer’s, traveling across Australia.
Lilly recently achieved a milestone, reaching a $1 trillion market capitalization, largely driven by the surge in use of its GLP-1 products. The company also produces the Alzheimer’s drug Kisunla, which was approved for use in 2024.
