“Mind Your Meds” Campaign Wins Gold at First Cannes Lions Health Awards

Integrated Campaign Created by Hill Holliday for the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids Wins Only U.S. Gold Lion Award in the Pharma Category

The Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, a nonprofit dedicated to reducing teen substance abuse and supporting families impacted by addiction, and agency Hill Holliday, were honored with a Gold Lion at the first-ever Lions Health Awards for the public service campaign “Mind Your Meds.” The campaign was developed by Hill Holliday for the Partnership as part of its Medicine Abuse Project.

The “Mind Your Meds” TV spots were directed by actor/director Eric Stoltz and were designed to bring attention to the issue of teen medicine abuse. The campaign uses haunting imagery to suggest that you might not always know who’s taking your medication. The spots portray an adult opening a bathroom cabinet for medication. When the mirrored door closes, the reflection is that of a teenager, the implicit message being, “mind your meds.”

“Winning a gold Lion is obviously fantastic, but helping to raise awareness and stop prescription medicine abuse among kids is even better,” said Lance Jensen, Chief Creative Officer at Hill Holliday. “We get up every day hoping our creative work makes a difference for our clients. When the rest of the world notices too, it reminds us why we’re in this business.”

The win represents more than a creative award. The inaugural Cannes Lions Health Festival addressed the rapidly changing state of health care marketing and highlighted the power of “life-changing creativity” in a growing category, encouraging those in the industry to seek creative satisfaction in doing work that does good.

Teen medicine abuse is a pervasive and devastating problem, with one in four teens admitting to using a prescription drug to get high or change their mood. Most teens who report medicine abuse say they get those medications from their family or friends. The Medicine Abuse Project is a multi-year effort led by the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids and is designed to help combat this public health crisis deemed an “epidemic” by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“To be recognized with a Gold Lion by the prestigious Lions Health Awards is not only an incredible honor, it also represents an effective effort to reach millions of families and kids at risk or caught up in the national epidemic of medicine abuse – a behavior that is more prevalent and deadly than ever,” said Steve Pasierb, President and CEO of the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids. “It is an honor to work with Hill Holliday as well as an exceptional group of program sponsors and strategic partners all committed to this life-changing initiative that has educated parents, mobilized communities and made progress toward our goal to prevent half a million teens from abusing medicine by the year 2017.”

The Cannes Lions Health festival honors the best in creative healthcare communications. The festival took place on June 13 and 14, 2014 at the famous Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France. In the event’s inaugural year, 800 people from 50 countries gathered to share, judge and celebrate the life-changing creativity of the world’s best healthcare communications. “Mind Your Meds” was the only campaign from the United States to win a Gold Lion at the awards.

Director Eric Stoltz is affiliated with Disorderly Conduct, the Los Angeles-based commercial production company headed by Kate Cohen, Marisa Polvino and Executive Producer Ron Cicero who helped make the “Mind Your Meds” campaign possible. Disorderly Conduct is a division of Straight Up Films, the feature film company co-producing Transcendence with Johnny Depp as well as the Natalie Portman film Jane Got a Gun.