Controversial Pancreatic Cancer Action campaign wins two top advertising awards

Team Darwin has been awarded two of the highest honours in the advertising industry at the 2014 IPA Effectiveness awards for its thought-provoking campaign for Pancreatic Cancer Action, which provided a genuine insight into how it feels to be diagnosed with a disease that leaves you with very little hope of survival.

Winning both a Gold and the Best Small Budget award, Team Darwin, the advertising agency that created the campaign, was recognised for the positive effect the ads have had on the charity and raising awareness of a 'not-so silent killer' among a quarter of the British population.

The adverts featured real pancreatic cancer patients wishing they had a cancer with a higher survival rate which would offer them a better chance of survival than just the three per cent they face.

Although the low budget print campaign only ran for a few days in local papers, its controversial nature meant that it was featured on ITV, Newsnight, Sky News and in all the national newspapers over the following month.

"The results were impressive with recognition from over a quarter of the UK population newly recognising the symptoms of pancreatic cancer," said Sucheta Govil global head of marketing, AkzoNobel and one of 27 IPA judges.

Ali Stunt, founder of the charity and rare survivor of pancreatic cancer said: "We are delighted that our campaign has received such high profile recognition. Despite very little expenditure on placing the adverts, the advertising campaign attracted global interest, and reached millions of people worldwide from the resulting coverage in various forms of media. It is the most influential advertising campaign for pancreatic cancer to date."

The campaign also raised the profile of pancreatic cancer in parliament and with policy makers, and helped CEO Ali Stunt secure a meeting with Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt. It also contributed to an increase in signatures on an e-petition calling for more funding and awareness of pancreatic cancer, which resulted in a debate taking place on 8th September 2014.

Team Darwin co-founder and chief creative Greg Phitidis said, "We couldn't be more thrilled to have delivered such a big impact for this small, important charity."

According to the IPA's tweet last night, these are the most prestigious and rigorous global effectiveness awards. The awards were held at a gala dinner last night (27 October) in the London Hilton in Park Lane.

More information about the Awards is available at http://www.ipa.co.uk/effectiveness/winners.