Objective

Pain is a universal part of the human experience, yet the painful truth is that we live in a society that doesn’t believe Black people in pain. 

For centuries, Black bodies have been exploited based on false beliefs that Black people feel less pain. These falsehoods have been ingrained into our healthcare system, creating a cycle of medical racism and pain bias that has a dire impact on Black people.

Simply put, in many ways, the American healthcare system has failed Black patients in pain.

As a leading over-the-counter pain reliever, Advil is uniquely positioned to help bring mass awareness to this issue, to elevate individuals and organizations working to address it, and to help bring solutions to the wider community.  

Advil has committed to driving awareness, empathy, and urgency around the issue of pain inequity and pain bias through The Advil Pain Equity Project, created by Advil and launched in partnership with Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) and BLKHLTH.

The Advil Pain Equity Project's inaugural storytelling campaign, ‘Believe My Pain’, aims to educate and drive awareness of pain inequity and systemic bias in Black communities.

We defined the following goals to reach the right audiences with the right actions:

• General Public: Illuminate pain bias to drive urgency around the issue
• Patients: Empower Black patients to become better self-advocates
• Healthcare Providers (HCPs): Change the way healthcare professionals think about and address Black people’s pain

Strategy

The Advil Pain Equity Project is a long-term commitment to championing equitable and accessible pain relief, created by Advil and launched in partnership with Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) and BLKHLTH.

Through research, education, and collaboration, this work is illuminating the long-standing history of systemic pain bias, rewriting the way pain is learned in medical schools across America, helping current HCPs unlearn bias and address inequities in their practice, and empowering patients to advocate for themselves.

• We highlighted the impact of pain equity through powerful research: Advil, guided by MSM, surveyed 2,000 Americans on pain experiences, revealing that 64% of Black individuals felt their healthcare providers treated them worse than others.
• We ignited perception-changing conversations: Through ‘Believe My Pain’ conversations on social, digital, and OOH channels, we got people talking about pain bias and their experiences and drove urgency to take action.
• We funded medical education solutions: Advil’s Pain Equity Fund provided grants to MSM and BLKHLTH, developing The Advil Pain Equity Course for aspiring healthcare professionals. The course aims to equip future clinicians with the knowledge, tools, and resources to understand and address racial health inequities in pain prevention, treatment, and management.
• We developed tools for better pain management: While it’s not on Black patients to do more, it was imperative that patients felt empowered to speak up when they felt their pain wasn’t being properly addressed. Advil and BLKHLTH created digital tools and resources to empower Black patients.

We created supportive content: Advil partnered with iOne Digital to develop a video series featuring HCPs discussing reproduction and mental health issues within the Black community. During Pain Awareness Month, we also launched a 360-degree campaign around the ‘Believe My Pain’ platform across social, digital, influencer, OOH, events, and earned media which illuminated the issue.

Results

The Advil Pain Equity Project’s ‘Believe My Pain’ campaign met immediate earned media success at launch, with over 37 placements (garnering 565M+ impressions) featuring interviews with campaign spokespeople Elaine Welteroth, Dr. Uché Blackstock, and patients, as well as Advil’s data and information about the commitment, and more. Most importantly, the campaign has inspired action within the community – Advil has built a trusted group of HCPs, experts, advisors, educators, and influencers who are partnering with the brand to build The Advil Pain Equity Course for aspiring healthcare professionals that aims to end systemic racial bias in the medical system, launching at the Morehouse School of Medicine this fall, with plans to expand in 2025 and beyond.

Key Results to Date:

Illuminating the problem of pain bias:

• 76% agree Advil addresses pain bias at the source.
• 62% said the campaign improved their understanding of pain inequity.
• 565M earned impressions.
• 252M social impressions.
• 168K influencer post impressions.
• 61.2M OOH impressions in NYC and Atlanta.

Empowering Black patients:

• 68% felt better equipped to discuss pain with their healthcare provider.
• 61% intend to act on the campaign's information.

Changing healthcare professionals' approach:

• Nearly 1,000 HCPs received CME credit advancing equitable healthcare practices.

Establishing Trust:

• +9 points purchase intent and trust among Black consumers

Media