Johnson & Johnson: 5B
Johnson & Johnson challenged UM Studios New York to evolve its brand perception beyond baby products and establish itself as a global healthcare leader. They wanted to honor the nursing profession and highlight the critical, often overlooked role nurses play in patient care, specifically targeting the healthcare community and the general public to drive emotional connection and brand respect.
Creative Idea
Produced a feature-length documentary about the first AIDS ward to redefine nurses as heroes.
Johnson & Johnson produced a feature-length documentary about the first AIDS ward to celebrate the radical empathy of nurses, proving their role as healthcare leaders and shifting the brand's image from a baby company to a courageous healthcare advocate.
Baking Tapes and Breaking the Cannes Barrier
Radical Activism Through Human Touch
The production of 5B marked a historic shift in branded entertainment as the first brand-funded feature film ever accepted into the Official Selection of the Cannes Film Festival. Directed by Oscar nominee Dan Krauss and Academy Award winner Paul Haggis, the project moved beyond traditional advertising to function as objective journalism. The narrative centered on the "radical activism" of nurses like Cliff Morrison and Alison Moed, who established the first dedicated AIDS unit at San Francisco General Hospital in 1983. The film’s cultural weight was bolstered by an original song, "A Human Touch," performed by Jackson Browne and Leslie Mendelson, which was later released as a special edition vinyl for Record Store Day.
Rescuing History from the Oven
To capture the era's authenticity, archival producer Shanti Avirgan led a team that recovered decades-old tapes from the basements of San Francisco news stations. Because the magnetic particles on these 30 year old tapes had degraded, the production team had to "bake them in an oven" to temporarily stabilize the media for a single digitization pass. This process successfully recovered pivotal footage, including a 60 Minutes segment featuring a patient named Tom. The historical accuracy was so profound that archival footage restored for 5B was later licensed for use in the Oscar-winning film Bohemian Rhapsody.
Shifting the Nursing Narrative
The campaign successfully repositioned Johnson - & - Johnson as a "caring healthcare leader" rather than just a baby brand. Post-screening metrics showed a significant lift in the public perception of nurses as "leaders" and "heroes" rather than assistants. Beyond brand sentiment, the project maintained a 100% Critics Score on Rotten Tomatoes and was eventually inducted into the Museum of Modern Art’s (MoMA) Permanent Collection.
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
A long-standing commitment to supporting the nursing profession through advocacy and resources.
Category
Healthcare marketing often focuses on doctors or product efficacy, leaving nurses as background characters.
Customer
Nurses felt undervalued and misrepresented by media, while the public saw the brand only as a baby company.
Culture
A cultural resurgence in honoring unsung heroes and a growing demand for brand-funded, high-quality long-form content.
Company
A long-standing commitment to supporting the nursing profession through advocacy and resources.
Category
Healthcare marketing often focuses on doctors or product efficacy, leaving nurses as background characters.
Strategy:
Elevate a brand's purpose by championing the unsung human stories at the heart of its industry.
Customer
Nurses felt undervalued and misrepresented by media, while the public saw the brand only as a baby company.
Culture
A cultural resurgence in honoring unsung heroes and a growing demand for brand-funded, high-quality long-form content.
Strategy:
Elevate a brand's purpose by championing the unsung human stories at the heart of its industry.
Results
The campaign resulted in the production of a feature-length documentary, 5B, which was an Official Selection at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. The film's impact extended to Hollywood, with its recovered archival footage being featured in the Oscar-winning movie Bohemian Rhapsody. The documentary highlights that 80% of care and prevention services for people living with HIV are delivered by nurses worldwide. The film received a world premiere at the SFFILM festival at San Francisco's Castro Theatre, garnering significant media attention and critical acclaim for its portrayal of nursing history.
2019
Cannes Film Festival Official Selection
80%
of HIV care delivered by nurses
1st
AIDS ward story brought to global cinema
Strategy Technique
Make the Brand the Hero of a Bigger Fight
The brand attached itself to the mission of elevating the nursing profession, positioning itself as a champion of healthcare's front lines rather than just a product manufacturer.
Explore Technique
Creative Technique
Story-Driven Campaign
By producing a high-quality, objective documentary instead of a traditional ad, the brand used long-form storytelling to authentically honor nursing history and build deep emotional brand equity.
Explore Technique
Craft Breakdown
This campaign's craft is exceptional due to its commitment to long-form storytelling and the meticulous curation of archival footage that reshapes a historical narrative.
The blend of raw, historical 16mm footage with polished modern interviews creates a powerful visual bridge between past and present.
The text overlays effectively challenge stereotypes and set a serious, respectful tone for the brand's message.
