Bupa appoints AMV BBDO to create sustainability campaign

Bupa has worked with Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO to create a global campaign unveiling its sustainability efforts.AMV BBDO was appointed to work with the healthcare brand in May, following a competitive pitch against two other agencies.

The 80-second ad shows healthcare professionals appearing to travel across the globe, facing blizzards and walking through the rainforest.

The professionals perform medical examinations that would otherwise be done on people, on the natural environment around them, to illustrate the relationship human health has with the health of the planet.It ends with a voiceover, saying: “We’ve taken on the planet as our newest patient, treating it with the same care and compassion we treat you with. Because if the planet lives a healthy life, we all can too.”

“At Bupa, we recognise that the climate crisis is also a health crisis, and we’re working hard to transform our business to become more sustainable,” Zoe Vafadari, chief brand and corporate affairs officer at Bupa Group, said.

“We wanted a simple way to explain why this topic is so important to us and AMV BBDO have helped us to capture that in our new campaign, where we commit to care for the planet as our newest patient. We hope the message resonates with our people, partners, and customers – because this is a commitment we need to make together.”

Bupa said it is moving to renewable energy by making its doctors’ and nurses’ scrubs from recycled plastics, and finding new ways to “deliver more efficient, lower carbon healthcare through new apps, technology, and other innovations”.

The film was created by Dalatando Almeida and Michael Hughes, and directed by David Edwards through AMV BBDO’s in-house production company, Flare Productions.It was shot entirely using virtual production, which is 95% less carbon intensive compared with filming on location. 

Sam Hawkey, chief executive of AMV BBDO, said: “With the climate crisis being labelled a health crisis, there is now more reason than ever for a health provider to play their part. Bupa is doing exactly this, and we are excited to help them do so.”

Nigel Sullivan, chief sustainability and people officer at Bupa Group, said: “For 75 years Bupa has been taking care of people’s health, but it is becoming increasingly clear that we can’t do this without taking care of the health of our planet too. 

“If our planet isn’t healthy, the chances are we won’t be either. That’s why our new campaign outlines our intention to take on the planet as our newest patient. Tackling the climate and health crisis is an urgent matter and it is hugely complex. 

“We have a lot of work to do, and we can’t do this alone, so we’re collaborating with our healthcare partners, providers, suppliers, and many other organisations across the sector to accelerate action and make a better world.”