A billion dollar cancer challenge wants you to Believe It

Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation (PMHF) in Toronto has announced plans to raise one billion dollars in five years. This billion dollar challenge will be the largest fundraising campaign in the history of Canadian health care. Part of the launch includes three television PSAs designed to address the skepticism people may have about cancer treatment. The Believe It campaign plays with viewer expectations ...

“For the last time”

“Moments like this”

“Tears of joy”

Creative was provided pro bono by Young & Rubicam Toronto. Y&R’s previous work for PMHF was “In Our Lifetime”, the hospital’s first branded campaign.

“In our lifetime”

PSAs will run nationally for the next six weeks and may continue throughout the summer. Print pieces with the black and gold Believe It logo are in transit shelters around the Greater Toronto Area and in national magazines and newspapers like The National Post & The Globe and Mail. There’s an accompanying Believe It microsite (www.ibelieveit.ca) and digital ad buy.

One of the mandates behind Believe It is to familiarize the public with the term ‘Personalized Cancer Medicine’, the kind of individualized cancer treatment spearheaded by the Princess Margaret. These television spots are right on trend with the generally hopeful/inspirational tone of other emotional ads for Canadian hospitals like Toronto Rehab and SickKids. Do they move you to give?