Brenda Sjahrial

Boob runs, pink ribbons and fluffy tutus.

How do you talk about incurable breast cancer in a sea of pink and optimism?

The insight

Stories on breast cancer are often centred on the ‘fight’ and survivorship. But for those with secondary breast cancer — a form of incurable breast cancer — their experiences aren’t reflected in the mainstream narrative.

We needed to reflect the realities of secondary breast cancer by creating an alternative to survivorship.

The strategy

Working with a steering group of 29 women, we developed a campaign called The Unsurvivors. They wanted a campaign that was brutally honest and direct. Intentionally provocative, ‘Unsurvivors’ is meant to grab the attention of policymakers and urge them to improve the state of care.

The campaign attracted 15,000 signatures in its first week without any media spend.