Defiance mechanism

The battle with cancer is a long one and the need of the hour is to not lose hope. Apollo Munich Health Insurance emphasises this while lending a helping hand to cancer patients and their families through its cancer insurance plan, iCan. The three-minute film deals with a distraught mother who breaks down while trying to explain to her young son what ‘cancer’ means.

 The insightful theme of this ad, according to the company, was a response to over a year long research by its product development executives across the country. This involved meeting various focus groups, patients and medical experts. Dr Nandini Ali, CMO, Apollo Munich Health Insurance says, “We wanted to remind people that cancer is unpredictable and the consequences are faced not just by the patient but also the family if he or she is the breadwinner. But they can stay prepared and should not give up. 70% of the cancer patients in the Indian community are detected at later stages due to very low preventive check-up rates.”

The latest commerical reminds you of Dabur Vatika’s commercial launched in 2015 that applauded the spirits of cancer survivors. Apollo Munich, too, hits similar notes through the voice of its young character who understands little about cancer. Yet, he doesn’t waste a minute to try and lift his mother’s spirits. If cancer is like his toy dinosaur that refuses to back down, why can’t his father become the stubborn dino instead? After all, his father can very well have the upper hand in this fight for survival.

 “While discussing the devasting moral and financial effects of cancer, the product’s name iCan got us thinking deeper. It is a battle of will power and belief against cancer. That’s what we wanted to capture and the hit me dinosaur toy was just a simple visual analogy of the same,” echoes Ullas Chopra, national creative director, Triton Communications.