A brand made a movie — and it actually worked as a film / Johnson & Johnson "5B"

The problem

The brief J&J gave its agency was simple: improve how people see nurses. With a nursing shortage looming by 2030, nurses weren't being shown as heroes in movies or on TV. The early plan was to show nurses responding to disasters and emergencies — but what the director brought back instead was the story of a hospital ward from 35 years earlier.

The insight

In the 1980s, some medical workers refused to care for AIDS patients. The reason was homophobia and fear of anything seen as "different." That same kind of fear is still everywhere in society today. Back then, just the simple act of a nurse touching a patient was radical. To show that care was safe, the nurses let themselves be filmed doing exactly that — touching their patients.

The idea

The film tells the story of the nurses who opened the world's first AIDS ward, called "5B," at a hospital in San Francisco. It was directed by Dan Krauss and Paul Haggis. J&J's logo and name barely appear at all. The entire 94 minutes is built from the testimony of nurses, patients, and survivors.

What happened

The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2019, and that same year won the Grand Prix in the Entertainment category at Cannes Lions. It got a theatrical release across the US and was later made available to stream as well. Part of the net profits went to the Global Fund.

Afterthought

Not a single shot of their own products — just a portrait of respect for the work of nursing. A company chose to make that. Making something that isn't advertising turned out to be the best advertising of all. It took 94 minutes to prove that paradox.

Awards

• Cannes Lions Grand Prix 2019

Tags