New Survey Finds 22 Percent of Women 18-44 Report Hearing More about Lupus Since Launch of the Ad Council National Lupus Public Awareness Campaign

(May 5, 2010 – Washington, DC) The Ad Council and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women’s Health (OWH) announced today that 22 percent of women ages 18-44 reported hearing more about lupus within the past year, according to a national online survey released by the two organizations. An additional 15 percent of women in this age group also reported they have heard, seen or read something about lupus, a 50 percent rise in awareness from a year ago when only 10 percent reported a lupus media placement.

Since the campaign was launched in March 2009, it has generated $27-million in donated media (public service announcements), and another $4-million in earned media (news coverage). Read the release issued by the Ad Council. The Lupus Foundation of America is the Founding Partner with OWH on the campaign.

The Ad Council also announced distribution of a new radio public service announcement to stations in both English and in Spanish, and redistribution of the television PSA’s to TV stations and cable outlets to secure additional placements.

Please contact Duane Peters or Maggie Maloney at the national office if you need assistance or have questions regarding the Ad Council’s national lupus public awareness campaign.

Could I Have Lupus? Awareness Campaign is # 1 for Outdoor Donated Media Dollars in Q2 2009!

We are excited to share with you the final donated and earned media results for Q2 2009 for the Could I Have Lupus? Awareness campaign.

The campaign received $9,311,000 in total donated media support and $597,800 in earned media support (public relations) in Q2 2009.

To put these numbers into context, the average Ad Council campaign receives an estimated 7 million dollars in donated media per quarter, so this campaign is skewing above average with our total donated media dollars.

Also we are pleased to report that this campaign ranked in the top ten of 50 Ad Council campaigns in Q2 2009 in a few of the categories. Most notably was that we were number 1 for Outdoor Donated Media Dollars!

Thanks to everyone who has participated in outreach efforts to secure media placements for this campaign. Let’s keep the momentum going!

http://www.lupus.org/AdCouncil

New National Lupus Awareness Campaign Launches

Dear Friends of the LFA:

It is an exciting day! Today I represented the Lupus Foundation of America (LFA) in Washington, DC to help the Advertising Council and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office on Women’s Health launch a new national lupus public awareness campaign.

The LFA is Founding Partner on this campaign, which is directed toward individuals most at risk for developing the disease: young minority women of childbearing age. I hope you will take a few minutes to check it out.

I am honored to be a part of this effort to help raise awareness of a disease that has long been overshadowed and overlooked. This morning, I participated in media interviews through a satellite hookup with radio and television stations throughout the United States. LFA President and CEO Sandra Raymond and I then spoke at HHS headquarters about the urgent need to increase public awareness of lupus symptoms to improve early diagnosis and treatment of lupus.

The objectives of this new campaign are to help the public understand lupus and its health effects, and to help people at risk for lupus identify early warning signs of the disease so they can ask their doctor for a medical evaluation. The campaign includes radio and television public service announcements in both English and Spanish. Multi-language print, outdoor, transit and Internet advertisements are also included. The campaign’s website, http://couldihavelupus.gov/, features information about lupus symptoms, diagnosis and treatment, links to resources, and stories from women who are living with lupus.

The LFA and its nationwide network of nearly 300 chapters, affiliates and support groups will promote the campaign through outreach efforts to local media outlets. The LFA has expanded its online resources to include an interactive tool and symptom checklist, launched a new education series of booklets and fact sheets, and enhanced its network of health educators to meet an expected increase in the number of people seeking information and services in response to the campaign.

Through this campaign, we hope lupus will get the attention that you and I both know it needs and deserves.

xoxo,
Mercedes Yvette


National Lupus Awareness Campaign Material

Campaign Materials:
http://couldihavelupus.gov/

LFA Campaign Resources:
http://www.lupus.org/AdCouncil


About Mercedes Yvette
In 2004, as a contestant and runner-up on America’s Next Top Model, Mercedes revealed to a nationwide television audience that she has lupus. Since assuming her spokesperson role with the LFA, Mercedes has participated in national television appearances to promote awareness of lupus, and joined other lupus advocates on Capitol Hill to seek increased federal funding for research on lupus.

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.

Lupus Awareness To Get Huge Boost from Ad Council Campaign in 2008!

Lupus awareness will receive a much higher profile, and subsequently more visibility, later this year when the Advertising Council – which has created some of our most endearing pop culture icons, including Smokey the Bear, McGruff the Crime Dog, and the Crash Test Dummies – launches a three-year, $3 million national lupus public awareness campaign.

The initiative is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women’s Health (OWH), in partnership with the Lupus Foundation of America. The Lupus Foundation of America is serving as the primary non-governmental co-sponsor for the campaign, and will work closely with the Ad Council to develop the campaign.

When it launches in mid- to late 2008, the lupus awareness campaign will include public service announcements on radio and television stations, in newspapers and magazines, on buses, subways, and billboards, as well as on the Internet. Additionally, the campaign will generate $30-$50 million annually in free media placements, and is expected to reach more than 100 million adults in the U.S. with life-saving information about lupus.

The multicultural advertising agency of Muse USA, based in Los Angeles, has been selected by the Ad Council to produce the campaign. The LFA worked with Muse USA and the Ad Council to organize a series of focus groups that were held over the past two weeks in San Antonio, Chicago and Los Angeles. In each city, groups of people with and without lupus were asked a series of questions about their perceptions of lupus, where and how they obtain information about their health, and their reaction to draft messages about lupus. The information gleaned from these focus groups, along with extensive public opinion research conducted by the LFA, will help the Muse USA creative team develop a very effective campaign on lupus.

This campaign will have a great impact on visibility for lupus, and is expected to greatly raise the level of awareness and support for the disease and those affected by the disease. We will keep you apprised of the campaign’s progress as it develops.