MSD Showcases The Emotions Surrounding COVID With New Ad Via Paper + Spark

MSD has released a new ad campaign via Paper + Spark showing the many varied emotions people can face when dealing with COVID, with the news that medication to combat COVID is now available to those in need.
The ad campaign introduces us to Jim, who is waiting on the result of a rapid antigen test while his many emotional responses interact with each other on the tabletop. Feelings like worried, aloof, empathetic, impatient, emotional, optimistic, careful and confident all interact with one another until the final outcome of the RAT test is realised.
Rebecca Cadd, marketing director, MSD said: “We wanted to raise awareness about the treatment options for COVID and give people newfound confidence to ask their GP about medicines now available.”
Zeina Khodr (pictured), managing director at Paper + Spark, said: “The ‘Plan for COVID’ campaign breaks pharma category norms and evolves the narrative, changing the way we think and talk about COVID.”
“We’re all suffering from serious COVID messaging fatigue, so how do you cut through and let people know there are now medicines available? With over 78% of Australians unaware that anti-viral medicines exist, we take the risk of Covid complications seriously but make the complex topic easy to understand by playfully exploring the emotions we all experience while waiting for test results.”
The key message of the campaign is to ask your doctor for advice as COVID medicines are now available. The consumer campaign is integrated with a solid HCP campaign supported by PR.
Carl Sorheim, director of Guilty, added: “We all experience so many of these feelings while waiting for our RAT test results, and this campaign taps into all of them, offering a little something for everyone.”
The fully integrated campaign launched in June across paid TV, owned and earned social, OOH, radio, digital, GP waiting rooms, PR and rounded out with a HCP campaign targeting doctors.
Credits:
Strategic and creative agency – Consumer and Health Care Professional – Paper + Spark
Media – Initiative
Production – Guilty
Client: MSD Australia
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