ICM: Make Alzheimer’s more real for people

THE CONTEXT: In France, Alzheimer's as well as brain and spinal diseases affect 1 in 8 people. A huge number. And yet, people think that Alzheimer’s is just a disease that affects other people.

THE IDEA: Make Alzheimer’s more real for people. In order to do so, the agency decided to set a trap for metro users In a very busy Paris metro station, the real metro maps were replaced by fakes. On these fake metro maps, all of the names of the stations were removed. It was impossible for people to figure out where they were and to find their way - exactly the kind of situation that an Alzheimer’s sufferer might experience. At the bottom of the fake metro maps was the following explanation: Now you know what it’s like to suffer from Alzheimer’s.

RESULT: Awareness among metro users of what it can be like to suffer from Alzheimer’s. The viral film shot during the exercise and then broadcast on the Internet and on the ICM website (Brain and Spinal Institute), has generated donations for research.

Client: ICM - L'Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle Épinière - Brain and Spinal Institute

Advertising Agency: Publicis Conseil, Paris, France

CCO : Olivier Altmann / Creative Director : Olivier Altmann / Copywriter : Thierry Lebec / Art Director : Bénédicte Potel
AD Assistant : Magali Valencia / Account Managers : Gaëlle Morvan, Patricia Denis-du-Péage
Photographer : Benny Valsson / Art Buyer : Anne Traonouil (Elysian Fields)