McCann London and Nurofen launching See My Pain fake products to close the Gender Pain Gap

The campaign shine a light on the everyday dismissal women receive when complaining of pain

McCann London, the award-winning creative agency, has launched the next phase of the See My Pain platform with the UK’s leading pain brand Nurofen, fronted by a campaign featuring a series of imitation medicine products bringing to life what women have heard when expressing their pain to family, friends and healthcare professionals.

Nurofen’s research has highlighted the phenomenon in which pain in women is more poorly understood and more mistreated compared to pain in men due to systemic gaps and biases. This is often referred to as the Gender Pain Gap. Half of the women surveyed (50%) reported feeling ignored or dismissed by their GP when it came to their pain, compared with just over a third (36%) of men.

The Gender Pain Gap is a critical issue that impacts the everyday lives of women. To launch the campaign, McCann London hosted an exclusive event in central London, in honor of International Women’s History Month, to raise further awareness of the stark reality of the Gender Pain Gap. At this event, McCann London directly distributed Nurofen’s Gender Pain Gap Index Report inside a range of imitation medicine products from pill bottles to plaster packs and head pads with labels describing the dismissals women often hear for their pain.

The campaign encompasses a 90” film giving a platform to the voices of six women regarding real healthcare issues including Endometriosis, Migraines, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Sciatica, Fibromyalgia and Osteoarthritis.

Additionally, McCann London and Nurofen are working with The Guardian on a media partnership to dive deeper into women’s pain stories. Over a three-month period, nine topics will be covered, from understanding what is normal for period pain to how to advocate for yourself.   

The campaign is now live across OOH, TV, VOD, Digital, and Audio. Media spend for this campaign was led by Zenith and Reckitt’s internal media team.  

You can read about the See My Pain platform in our magazine through the Q&A with McCann London’s Senior Planner Ipeknaz Erel.

Featured image: See my Pain / Nurofen, McCann London