Help Create a National Lupus Awareness Campaign

You may already have heard that the Advertising Council -- the organization which created such pop culture icons as McGruff the Crime Dog, the Crash Test Dummies, and Smokey the Bear -- has been contracted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-Office on Women's Health to develop a public awareness campaign about lupus.

This is your opportunity to play an important role by helping to create this campaign which will debut later this year.

The lupus awareness campaign will include messages for radio and television stations, newspapers, magazines, transit, outdoor and the Internet. When launched later this year, the campaign will increase public understanding of lupus, its symptoms and consequences.

Lupus Foundation of America public opinion polls reveal that only one in five Americans knows about lupus. And even those who say they know something about the disease often do not fully understand its impact on individuals and families. Here's how you can help increase awareness of this terrible disease and generate more public support for lupus research and support services.

Volunteers needed!

The staff of Muse Communications, the award-winning advertising agency that will produce the campaign, is looking for volunteers -- people with lupus -- to keep a journal for two weeks, describing what it is like to live every day with lupus. Volunteers will record in their journals all of the challenges they face in living and coping with the disease.

Muse staff will review all of the journals and -- here's the best part -- several will be selected for use in the campaign. If your journal is selected, you could appear in the campaign as a spokesperson for lupus awareness to help put a face on the disease.

Here's what to do to obtain your journal!

Fill out this online form. Within a couple of days, you will receive your journal. Write in it every day, recording your activities and emotions. Then send it back, along with your picture, to the address provided.

While only a few journals will be featured in the campaign, every journal submitted helps the people of Muse develop effective advertising messages that will educate the public about lupus.

We really need your participation. Everyone with lupus -- more than 1.5 million Americans -- will benefit from the additional support and resources this campaign will generate for lupus. Please request your journal right now.