The latest social media iteration of Breast Cancer Now’s ‘Real Talk’ disrupts real conversations to give voice to the things that people living with cancer leave unsaid.
Created by BMB agency, a set of new live action adverts from the charity draws on the realities that people living with breast cancer shy away from opening up about — whether it’s for fear of burdening others or because they feel they won’t be truly understood.
Directed by Adrian Florin Ardelean and running throughout August across TV, online, YouTube, social and BVOD, the films begin with a real person putting on a brave face with the words “I’m starting to feel like myself again”.
They then continue looking down the lens staying completely silent before subtitles reveal the honest truth that is going on in the survivor’s head: “That’s a complete lie. I’m just saying it because I know you want to see the ‘old me’ again. But I’m not sure I’m that person anymore”.
The live action films will also be supported by a series of typographic social spots that focus on words (or, in reality, the words that are missing), and will continue in the lead up to Breast Cancer Awareness Month which begins on 1 October.
The assets include a simple sentence such as “Mummy will be ok”, but leave a telling space between each word suggesting that a longer sentence isn’t being revealed.
{“@context”:”http:\/\/schema.org\/”,”@id”:”https:\/\/www.marketing-beat.co.uk\/2024\/08\/07\/left-unsaid-breast-cancer-now\/#arve-youtube-ulmavus9bls”,”type”:”VideoObject”,”embedURL”:”https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ULmAVus9bLs?feature=oembed&iv_load_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&autohide=1&playsinline=0&autoplay=0″}
Subscribe to Marketing Beat for free
Sign up here to get the latest marketing news sent straight to your inbox each morning
All of the elements highlight the difficulties of opening up about subjects including sex and intimacy, body image and the reality of being given an incurable diagnosis of secondary breast cancer.
The works build on Breast Cancer Now’s original 2022 ‘Real Talk’ campaign, but with the addition of the new tagline “For all the things left unsaid, we’re here. Search Breast Cancer Now”.
The new tagline appears throughout the campaign in order to shed light on the support the charity can provide.
BMB senior creatives Jack Snell and Joe Lovett said: “Working closely with people who are living with breast cancer, we’ve aimed to highlight their concerns and the kinds of things they struggle to talk about.”
“We hope this work can help people find the words to express what they are going through,” they added.
Breast Cancer Now associate director of brand, marketing and communications said: “With this campaign, we are inviting people who might be worried about or experiencing breast cancer to turn to us and find the support they need whatever they are going through. We’re here to help – online, on the phone or in person.”
In addition to Real Talk, BMB is behind Breast Cancer Now’s ‘Gallery of Hope’ which was presented at the Saatchi gallery and made in conjunction with people living with incurable secondary breast cancer as a reminder of the true value of time.
The agency was also behind an award-winning campaign entitled ‘The Chat’ – which played out in a group chat, and ‘Stories of Secondary’, which explored life with secondary breast cancer.