Novartis will make its Super Bowl debut with a breast cancer awareness ad

Pharmaceutical brand Novartis will make its Super Bowl debut with an ad highlighting breast cancer. Called “Your Attention, Please,” the 60-second ad shows how omnipresent breasts are in culture today while also making the case for early detection through breast cancer screening. The company released a 15-second teaser for the spot today. The ad stars breast cancer survivor and comedian Wanda Sykes and actress and breast cancer advocate Hailee Steinfeld. Novartis worked with Omnicom’s Merkley and Partners on the creative and Publicis handled media duties. Reaching women Novartis has a unique opportunity to promote such a message this year, said Gail Horwood, chief marketing and customer experience officer. “More and more women are watching football—there’s a cultural moment where maybe a year or two ago it wasn’t so obvious that this would be the type of place to make this message and information available,” said Horwood, who joined Novartis three years ago after working in consumer packaged goods. Other pharma brands have noticed the increase in female viewers and planned their advertising accordingly to capture that audience. For example, last year, Astellas ran its second straight Super Bowl ad, which highlighted its menopause product Veozah. Astellas has not publicized what plans it has for this year’s game, if any. Novartis’ 60-second spot directs viewers to YourAttentionPlease.com, a website where women can take steps to get screened and understand their risks from age and history. Horwood stressed the importance of driving people to action by including the site. “We know society pays a lot of attention to women’s breasts—it’s not a surprise, but we are actually taking steps to improve our health and catch cancer early on,” said Horwood. The Super Bowl ad marks the beginning of a multi-year campaign, Horwood said, noting that it includes digital media and social to bolster the Super Bowl spot. Novartis is also eyeing other “marquee” moments as it seeks to change behavior around early screening, she added. In the health care category, Novartis joins telehealth brand Hims & Hers, which announced earlier today that it will also air its first Super Bowl spot this year. That effort will highlight its GLP-1 weight loss treatments. Loading…

Novartis will make its Super Bowl debut with a breast cancer awareness ad

Featured Stories