Silent Killer Stroke Campaign gets people talking
Posted 1st November, 2012
An Advertising Standards Board ruling on 10 October upheld complaints about the National Stroke Foundation’s recently launched Silent Killer advertising campaign.
The television commercial featuring a serial killer taking to a brain with a hammer is just one of the graphic ways the National Stroke Foundation is raising awareness of stroke as a deadly and underestimated disease that can strike anyone without warning – and at any time.
The ad campaign ran in tandem with a call to every member of the community – personally affected by stroke or not – to sign up and help make stroke matter to everyone in Australia. A stroke happens in Australia every 10 minutes. Many who do not die live their life with severe disability.
The ad, which was also broadcast in other formats on billboards and on radio, finished its run in September. Since then, the ASB ruled that the advertisement may not run without modifications, specifically, that the call to action is made clearer.
National Stroke Foundation chief executive Dr Erin Lalor said the decision to create the Killer Inside advertisement was not taken lightly:
“While we accept and will abide by the ASB ruling, we stand by our advertisement as part of the Fight Stroke campaign,” Dr Lalor said.
“The advertisement is confronting but then so is the aftermath of a stroke. After more than 10 years of tireless campaigning to ensure services are available to reduce the impact of stroke on all Australians, a recent survey showed that only 6% of people thought it was a health concern. This is coupled with the fact that people affected by stroke are often unable to get appropriate care and support because it is not a high priority for government either.”
Dr Lalor, who was speaking from the nation’s first stroke summit held on 30-31 October, said the Stroke Foundation would work with the team that produced the ad to tighten the call to action and air the commercials in 2013.
The summit, organised by the National Stroke Foundation, follows a series of forums held in all capital cities. These were attended by hundreds of stroke survivors, their carers and their families who spoke about their experience of living with stroke in a society that neglects this devastating disease. A Call to Action, presented to federal Parliament, was developed from their priorities.
Click here to watch the TVC. WARNING the TVC may be disturbing to some viewers.