Invest in research right now to ensure a long term cure for Alzheimer’s, says a public service announcement. In an attempt to raise awareness about the disease and its effects on families, BBDO, a New York based advertising agency, has made a video titled ‘Mother and Daughter’.
It opens with a woman being woken up by a young girl, seemingly her daughter. As the narrative unfolds, the viewer is taken into an average day in the life of the girl taking care of her mother suffering from Alzheimer’s. At the video’s climax, the woman is revealed to be ageing, while her middle-aged daughter takes care of her. Their reduced ages were simply a metaphor to remind audiences that prevention is better than cure.
The video closes with the message:
You wouldn’t put your daughter through this when she’s young. Let’s make sure it doesn’t happen when she’s older.
The PSA invites donations for Cure Alzheimer’s Fund. Senior engagement officer, Barbara Chambers, speaking to Adweek, said that not only are women twice as likely to get the disease, they also mostly end up being the caregivers.
Adding to this, BBDO global chief creative officer, David Lubars says:
What happens is they get it and then their children are in their 40s, and it’s usually the daughters who take the brunt of taking care of the mom. So a woman in her 40s not only has to take care of the mom, but has her own children. No parent ever wants to be a burden to their children, and so when you become a burden to your children and you have Alzheimer’s, you don’t know it anymore.
Though, India has a five times lower rate of Alzheimer’s than countries like America, every four seconds someone is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in the world. It is the most common cause of dementia affecting more than 47 million people worldwide, yet, a cure remains elusive.
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