by Anna Gamboa
Seven A.D. and the PHA team up for a public service announcement calling attention to cardiac issues.
If you’ve ever had your heart talk back to you, would it be cheeky or serious? In late March 2015, the Philippine Heart Association’s (PHA) Council on Women’s Cardiovascular Health launched an advocacy campaign to create awareness for women’s heart health. Recently found to be one of the leading causes of death in women age 40 onwards, the good news is that once detected, heart disease can be managed or even prevented with the help of a healthcare professional.
Called “Pansinin Mo Naman Ang Puso Mo” — Teeny Gonzales of Seven A.D., the agency that created the campaign, states: “The heart to heart campaign was actually launched around end-March with a TVC featuring Vilma Santos’ heart. But of course voiced by the Star For All Seasons herself. This was accompanied by a print ad plus other print ads featuring Gretchen Baretto and Tessa-Prieto Valdez. We have to release the print ads of Sharon Cuneta and Lorna Tolentino. There was also a fund-raising event for this in Meralco Theater featuring Jon Santos doing heart to heart talks with his characters.”
Also featuring heart-shaped caricatures of celebrities, which were created in the hopes of being used in social media, often featuring the message “I got a message from my heart,” Gonzales says the digital campaign is already in the sustaining phase using the hashtag #hearttoheart. Apart from adobo’s Editor in Chief Angel Guerrero getting her own caricature, other ladies who have supported the campaign by using the whimsical drawings include Maricel-Laxa Pangilinan, Anne Curtis, Charo Santos and Regine Velasquez.
“The hearts literally talk to the owners, urging them to have a check-up, to know the condition they are in,” says Dr. Maria Adelaida Iboleon-Dy, who chairs the women’s health council of the PHA. Citing that one out of three women in the country may die of heart-related health issues, she encourages Filipinas to have a check-up. “We were fortunate to have several celebrity women join our cause to launch the campaign. Their hearts opened up and hopefully they listened.”
With Seven A.D.’s whimsical approach to addressing a health issue, hopefully more women will remember to take time to pay attention to their ticker.
