2015 Winners & Shortlists

Brief Explanation

In the UAE, people can easily buy antibiotics over the counter. We had to make them think twice about popping pills like candy and helping slow down antibiotic resistance.

The Brief

The World Health Organisation has stated that if we don't stop the over-prescription and consumption of antibiotics, we'll soon put medicine back hundreds of years. Self-medicating has given rise to superbugs that’s claiming the lives of over 23,000 people every day around the world. Daman, the National Health Insurance company in the UAE, wanted to educate people against consuming antibiotics without a physician’s prescription.

How the final design was conceived

Our campaign idea was simple… Never 'treat' yourself to antibiotics. To bring the idea to life, we created clever parodies of the communication of some of the world’s most famous confectionary brands, by subverting their packaging and brand look and feel. For instance, Smarties became Moxifloxacin, and Skittles became Ceftriaxone (names of 5th generation antibiotics).

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

We’ve released the ads only recently as part of a bigger campaign to educate consumers in this cold & flu season. The outcome will be determined once the whole campaign has run its course.

The National Health Insurance Company – Daman is the region’s leading specialised health insurer, providing comprehensive health insurance solutions to more than 2.4 million members in the UAE. Headquartered in Abu Dhabi and established in 2006, Daman has set high standards in the health insurance industry and has been awarded a number of internationally recognised awards and quality-focused certifications in a relatively short span of time. The company is ISO 9001 certified for Quality Management Systems and ISO 27001 for Information Security Management. The company’s successful application of the online-based Pharmacy Benefit Management system has received accreditation by URAC.