First of its Kind Alzheimer’s Integrated Consumer Campaign Sets the Record Straight as Prevalence of the Disease Escalates
A new campaign, the first of its kind from the Alzheimer’s Association, aims to educate Americans and compel action in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease. With the baby boomers turning 60 last year, bringing with them escalated concern about Alzheimer’s disease and its impact on America’s healthcare system, there is a great need for action.
The truth about Alzheimer’s is very alarming, more than five million Americans are now living with Alzheimer’s disease and someone new is added to those ranks every 72 seconds. The number one risk factor for Alzheimer’s is age and experts predict the toll of Alzheimer’s disease alone could be as high as $400 billion by the year 2030 – enough to literally bankrupt the Medicare system.
The Alzheimer’s Association, the world’s leader in Alzheimer’s care and research, created this integrated campaign which includes advertising, celebrity champions, public relations, online and grassroots marketing and advocacy.
New print ads fill information gap: convey reality of Alzheimer’s
A new poll shows that while more than half of Americans know someone with Alzheimer’s, 94 percent say they don’t know much about the disease and it’s not on their radar. This new campaign aims to overcome the misperception that Alzheimer’s is just about old people forgetting things. This perception allows people to become complacent about the disease and fail to see the rising number of people who are affected by Alzheimer’s.
The ads, by Atlanta-based TG Madison, hit newsstands today. They appear in more than 22 top-tier publications, major online portals and news/magazine sites throughout the country including Time, Newsweek, Prevention, Real Simple, MSN.com and CNN.com.
According to John Carter, EVP, Executive Creative Director, TG Madison, the images in the new print ads represent the struggle someone with the disease – and their loved ones – experience as Alzheimer’s disease progresses. The stirring ads decisively ask Americans to stand up and represent people who suffer from the disease. Each treatment features one word larger than the others, in purple, which invites a certain action – Voice, Move or Open.
For example, one ad reads:
Someone suffering from Alzheimer’s will lose the ability to form thoughts, remember simple words and ultimately, communicate. You can be their VOICE.
More than 30 stars appear in new portrait exhibit for Alzheimer’s
The campaign also includes a new portrait exhibit featuring stories and video from well-known faces like David Hyde Pierce, Dick Van Dyke, Ricki Lake, Peter Gallagher, Victor Garber, Olympia Dukakis, Lea Thompson, Kate Burton, Diamond Jim, winner of Westminster Dog Show and Alzheimer’s therapy dog and others. The portrait collection was photographed by well-known celebrity and fashion photographer, Robert Trachtenberg. It includes both print stills of personalities committed to making a difference and personal video essays from stars who share how Alzheimer’s has affected them.
The collection was unveiled this week at New York’s Top of the Rock and will travel to at least 12 cities this year as part of this nationwide comprehensive public education campaign from the Alzheimer’s Association.
“If Alzheimer’s ever was cause for public concern, it’s now,” said David Hyde Pierce, Alzheimer’s Association board member and spokesperson for the campaign. “Our aging population compels the need for effective disease-modifying drugs. As individuals, as families, as a country, we can’t afford this disease, physically, emotionally, or financially.”
Shining light on the cause
Today, New York’s Rockefeller Center is illuminated in purple in support of Alzheimer’s research and funding.
By mid-century, without a cure or effective treatments to delay the onset or progression of the disease, the number of people with Alzheimer’s is expected to grow to as many as 16 million, which is more than the current total population of New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston combined.
Urging action now: Enrolling five million Champions
The campaign challenges five million Americans to become a Champion – one for every person currently living with the disease – to fight against Alzheimer’s. A Champion is one who will OPEN minds and learn the facts about Alzheimer’s to help us educate others; VOICE support, become an advocate, help spread the word about this disease; and MOVE the Alzheimer’s Association’s cause forward by joining a local Memory Walk, donating to the Alzheimer’s Association or volunteering at the local chapter.
To find out more about becoming a Champion, visit www.actionalz.org. This new Web site, created specifically for the campaign, provides many ways to get involved, information on the disease and excerpts from the celebrity portrait exhibit.
Americans can purchase a campaign T-shirt, like the one the celebrities are wearing in the exhibit, and learn more about Alzheimer’s by visiting www.actionalz.org. Visitors to the site can also help by advocating, registering for a local Memory Walk or making a donation online.
Introduced in 2007, the Champions Consumer Campaign was created by the Alzheimer’s Association, the world’s leader in Alzheimer’s care and research, in a national effort to dispel public misperceptions and move people to take action towards a world without Alzheimer’s disease. The Champions Campaign includes the use of provocative advertising, celebrity involvement, public relations, online and grassroots marketing and advocacy. For more information, visit www.actionalz.org.
Contact:
Alzheimer's Association
Media line: 312.335.4078
E-mail: media@alz.org
