Women over-index in ALL types of pain, yet they’re more likely to have their pain ignored or dismissed by healthcare professionals. Almost all pain research is still only done on men, making our knowledge of women’s pain woefully incomplete. Subsequently, pain for women is frequently mistreated compared to pain in men due to systemic gaps and biases.

 

This is known as The Gender Pain Gap.

 

Nurofen, a brand dedicated to pain relief, pledged to make women’s pain visible.

Action was needed to close the gender pain gap and create lasting change.

 

We launched the campaign across earned, owned and paid, media led by a Metro cover wrap, Times and Telegraph single pages plus animated DOOH high impact sites. We shot a series of impactful close up portrait photographs which were blurred and unblurred within the coverwrap pages and animated out of home to bring our message into focus. These all used direct eye contact to really confront the issue.  Women’s pain was invisible, with See My Pain we aimed to make it visible.

 

Nurofen commissioned the first ever Gender Pain Gap Index report to provide vital data to the industry including over 5,000 women’s experiences of pain. 50% of women surveyed reported feeling ignored or dismissed by their GP regarding pain, proving that the problem is both systemic and societal .
Through an integrated PR, TV, print and digital campaign we shone a light on the scale of the problem, emboldening women to come forward with their experiences, and empowering others to feel more confident in the doctors’ office.
The second phase of the campaign encompassed an emotive 90” documentary film giving a platform to six women to tell their stories of real healthcare issues. This material was used to inform and educate both women and healthcare professionals via retail partnerships with 2x leading UK pharmacy chains.

 

We created a fake product range highlighting real dismissals women have received instead of treatment, validating pains that have for so long gone ignored.

 

We distributed Nurofen’s Gender Pain Gap Index Report inside provocative imitation medicine products describing the dismissals women often hear for their pain. A range of provocative packaging highlighted the real dismissals women receive instead of treatment and helped put the report in the hands of GPs, Pharmacists, and key decision makers. The imitation products were then featured across a range of advertising assets to draw attention to the issue.

The third phase of the campaign launched the ‘Pain Pass’ at a two-day immersive exhibition.

 

The See My Pain exhibition featured 13 new fake products, in a thought-provoking maze of dismissals, exposing the challenging reality of some women’s journey to a successful pain diagnosis.
The end of the maze revealed the Pain Pass. A digital tool fronted by a simple acronym (PASS) to help women know what to do in the face of bias. Created in collaboration with Healthcare Professionals and real women, it includes a pain scale to help women and doctors understand the severity of the pain women face, pain vocabulary to help women find the right words to accurately express their pain, a calendar for women to track their pain, and tips to boost women’s confidence and help them to advocate for themselves in their interactions with HCPs.