BHF shifts focus with ‘join the fight’ campaign
The British Heart Foundation (BHF) is launching a new campaign to raise awareness of hereditary heart disease, which it claims affects up to half a million people through a faulty gene that can cause people’s hearts to suddenly stop.
By Sarah Vizard
Video: The BHF’s new campaign featuring an unborn baby that may have inheritied heart condition
A print, online and TV campaign, created by Grey London, features a baby called Zara whose mum, Caroline, discovered she had the faulty gene. She has a 50/50 chance of passing it onto her baby.
The “Fight for every heartbeat” TV ad uses CGI and data based on Zara’s 40-week ultrasound to produce a film that shows Zara as an unborn baby that may have the inherited condition. She invites people to “join our fight” by donating to the BHF to help it with research to develop improved genetic tests that can help find faulty genes.
Nick Radmore, the BHF’s interim programme director for marketing and communications, says: “Our new campaign drives home the message that we urgently need to accelerate research into inherited heart conditions. Pinpointing the genes which cause these conditions can mean the difference between life and death. The incredible cutting-edge effects used to bring baby Zara to life will capture viewers’ attention and crucially could help save many lives in the future.”
The BHF says Zara was born last month but it still doesn’t know if she has a faulty gene and she will be monitored throughout her childhood to see if she suffers any ill effects.
The campaign is a departure for the charity, which has typically focused on how factors such as weight, exercise and alcohol consumption can lead to heart disease. It also ran a series of ads with actor Vinnie Jones that aimed to educate people on CPR.
