JUVENILE DIABETES RESEARCH FOUNDATION CAMPAIGNS FOR AWARENESS, CONTRIBUTIONS
By Adnews Staff
The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation has begun an advertising and public relations campaign to raise awareness of the disease and raise funds for research into it. November is Diabetes Month, the foundation's key fundraising period. Advertising and public relations support are being provided pro bono by Young & Rubicam and Cohn & Wolfe respectively. "We were faced with the task of educating Canadians about diabetes, while securing donations for the organization," said Y&R president John Farquhar. "We also aimed to break through the clutter of other disease-related causes with a creative advertising campaign." In a public service announcement for television, a child counts the days of the week while dotting his body with a marker to indicate insulin injections. The copy reads "Insulin lets a child with diabetes lead a normal life. If you consider 2000 needles a year normal." Two radio PSAs have also been created. The first begins with a ticking clock and a narrator saying that Ryan is the brightest student in the class because he can already tell time, as he has to give himself shots every four hours to stay alive. In the second a girl named Sarah flinches when she sees insulin needles in her lunchbox at the thought of having to inject herself for the rest of her life. Print ads consist of images of children with copy such as "Try explaining to a child with juvenile diabetes that 2000 needles a year is a cure." The PSAs will run nationally during November and December. Also, Cohn & Wolfe has developed a national letter writing contest that invites Canadians to submit a letter about "what a cure for diabetes would mean to you." The grand prize, to be awarded on Dec. 17, is a trip for two to the Dominican Republic from Signature Vacations. Seven regional prizes of a Sony DVD player will also be awarded. The contest is being supported with media relations and a video news release.