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Celebrities Star in First TV Ad Campaign for Alzheimer's

Alissa Sauer
By Alissa SauerJuly 15, 2015

A new television ad starring international celebrities is raising awareness for Alzheimer’s funding and research in the UK. Learn more about the groundbreaking campaign and how celebrities are using their platforms to raise Alzheimer’s disease awareness. 

National TV Ad Campaign Uses Celebrity Status To Raise Awareness

It’s no secret that Alzheimer’s and dementia does not discriminate. Wealth, social status, even celebrity status, is no protection from the devastation that Alzheimer’s and related dementias wreak on families and loved ones.

A group of celebrities personally affected by the disease have recently joined voices with Alzheimer Research UK to ask for more funding and to raise awareness about the looming epidemic.

Partnering with Alzheimer’s Research UK, the ad includes the late Sir Terry Pratchett, who passed away from the disease earlier this year, Seth Rogen, James Nesbitt, choreographer Arlene Phillips, Dame Joan Bakewell, and news anchor Katie Derham.

This ad is the first time in the 21 year history of Alzheimer’s Research UK that the organization has used national advertising to spread its message. Alzheimer’s Research UK calls their campaign the “Fightback Campaign” and used news footage to show the seriousness of the disease and display the need for increased research funding.

Rogen, whose mother-in-law is living with the disease, said of the campaign:

“It doesn’t respect ethnicity or wealth… and with a rapidly aging global population, it’s one of our biggest threats. Alzheimer’s Research UK’s campaign is a bit of a wake-up call to the scale of the challenge, but also a call to arms for us to back research to beat it.”

Fighting the Stigma of Alzheimer’s

This may be the first time a national ad campaign has been launched to raise awareness and fight Alzheimer’s, but celebrities have been using their platforms to advocate for Alzheimer’s research before.

Celebrities like Stone Phillips, Candy Crowley and Carey Mulligan have been using their personal experiences with Alzheimer’s to speak out about the devastation of the disease as they watched it affect those closest to them.

Perhaps more powerful than their call for funding is their acknowledgement of the disease, which can help ease the stigma which often accompanies a diagnosis. The stigma that comes with Alzheimer’s can deter people from seeking early treatment, receiving an early diagnosis (or any diagnosis at all), stop them from making future plans, developing a support network, and living their best life.

Watch the video from the Alzheimer’s Research UK Fightback Campaign:

https://youtu.be/f0YLcLxB77Y

What do you think of the first TV ad campaign for Alzheimer’s that ran in the UK? Do you think it’s helpful to have celebrities raise awareness about the disease? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below. 

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Alissa Sauer
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Alissa Sauer

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