Takeda: Lighter Blue

Credits & Description:

Entrant: Mccann Humancare, New York
Brand: Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.s.a. Inc/h.s. Lundbeck
Corporate Name of Client: Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A. Inc/H.S. Lundbeck
Pharmaceutical Companies: Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A. Inc, Deerfield/H.S. Lundbeck, Deerfield
Director/CNS Marketing (Takeda Pharmaceuticals): Keith Hopps
Senior Product Manager (Takeda Pharmaceuticals): Kylie Wagner
Senior Product Managers (Lundbeck): Terri Lynn Jones/Delta Schonhoft
Media Agency: Klick Health, Vancouver/Klick Health, Chicago
EVP/Director of Account Management: Gary Chu
Senior Account Director: Alexandra Pfeffer
Account Director: Edward Morrissey
Account Executive: Warren Wyatt
Assistant Account Executive: Ann Rhee
VP Strategy: Simon Smith
Agency: McCann HumanCare, New York
EVP/Executive Creative Director: Auge Reichenberg
Group Creative Directors: Kenneth Evans/Andrea Thompson
Copywriter: Jane Weinstein
Art Director: Tatiana Stephanis
SVP/Senior Producer: Wendy Leahy
Senior Integrated Producer: Loly McIndoe
Agency Producers: Wendy Leahy/Loly McIndoe
Post-Production Company: Global Mechanic, Vancouver
Animation Company: Global Mechanic, Vancouver
Music Composer: Brian Carson
Synopsis:
The first depression patient ever portrayed with a big blue head. Most pharmaceutical advertising depicting depression is very serious, with patients often shown lying in dark rooms, paralyzed by sadness. (No wonder people with depression are stigmatized and loathe to talk about their conditions.) Instead, we chose to use a funny little blue guy with a big head to share his depression with other sufferers…and maybe, just maybe, help them share with each other.
Lighter Blue. The lighter side of a heavy subject.
Lighter Blue (or Blue, for short) lives on Facebook, where his depression symptoms get in the way of living—just like they do for real people who struggle with this challenging condition. Blue has a dumb but loyal dog, a princessy cat, and a goldfish who has irony down to a fine art. In over 100 posts (and recently, a bunch of videos), these little cartoon gems feature funny, sad, insightful dialogue writing that has touched depression sufferers deeply.
The most successful unbranded pharma Facebook page. Ever. We didn’t really expect this silent, stigmatized patient population to share—either our content, or their own feelings. Wrong. They liked, shared, and commented by the millions, pouring out their feelings and finally letting the world know what they’re going through.
Something about Blue’s sad, sweet, funny vulnerability made it safe for people to reveal their inner struggles…to support each other…and to help themselves heal. Within months, Lighter Blue became the most successful unbranded pharma page in the history of Facebook.