Lung Cancer Alliance

When the Lung Cancer Alliance approached us looking to make a big splash to get over the stigma attached to the disease. As the deadliest form of cancer, the problem was, those diagnosed received no sympathy. It’s the one cancer that when told about a diagnoses to others, the immediate response is “well did you smoke?” Whether or not that choice was made is irrelevant (despite MANY people who never smoked being diagnosed). The reality is, nobody deserves this. And when they get it, well, sadly the stats aren’t in their favor. Although since this campaign ran, the numbers are improving dramatically.

For this work, we set out to tackle the stigma head on. We launched with an OOH teaser campaign featuring groups of people who also have stigmas attached to them (cat lovers, hipsters, tattooed, the rich, the good looking, the quirky) and saying they deserve to die. This statement is of course ridiculous, just as ridiculous as saying someone with lung cancer deserves it. Because by saying someone deserves lung cancer, in effect, you’re saying they deserve to die. The campaign was picked up by national media, discussed and debated on social, and even written about in marketing textbooks.