Nurofen packaging reflects everyday dismissals women in pain receive

Painkiller brand Nurofen is highlighting the everyday dismissals that women in pain receive as it embarks on the second phase of its “See my pain” campaign.

Developed by McCann London, the campaign features a series of imitation medicines that reflect the justifications women hear when expressing their pain to family, friends and healthcare professionals.

The campaign rests on research that found that pain in women is poorly understood. One in two (56%) women surveyed felt their pain was ignored or dismissed due to their gender (compared with 36% of men). The findings also highlighted that one in six women experienced severe pain every day and women were twice as likely as men to be affected by chronic pain.

The campaign includes a 90-second film in which six women voice their experience of various healthcare issues including endometriosis, migraines, chronic fatigue syndrome, sciatica, fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis.

The campaign was created by Ruth Boulter. The production company is Craft London, with media planning and buying handled by Zenith and Reckitt’s internal media team.

The campaign is running across out of home, TV, video-on-demand, digital and audio.

McCann London and Nurofen are working with The Guardian on a media partnership to explore women’s pain stories further.

Over a three-month period, nine topics will be covered, such as understanding what is normal for period pain and how to advocate for yourself. 

Nuria Antoja, marketing director at Nurofen for Reckitt, said: “The second phase of the 'See my pain' campaign cements the Nurofen commitment to help close the gender pain gap. By highlighting the excuses that women get thrown at them time and again to dismiss their pain we are shining a light on the problems women face when seeking treatment.

“Along with supporting these women through our awareness campaign, we have committed to a number of short- and long-term commitments in research and training for pharmacists and pharmacy teams. We are immensely proud of our 'See my pain' platform and the work we will be doing together with McCann Worldgroup to continue to fight pain biases so that everyone regardless of age, gender or ethnicity can take control of their pain.”

McCann London and Nurofen kicked off the long-term initiative in November. The press and outdoor campaign included a cover wrap of the Metro newspaper.

Boulter added: “Behind this campaign are thousands of conversations with the one in six women who experience severe pain every single day. We hope this campaign serves to be a platform for their lived experiences, acknowledgement of the times their pain has been dismissed, and validation that they deserve help and support.

“Backed by the real business changes and far-reaching commitments being made by Reckitt, we believe we can affect the ingrained gender bias in healthcare and make women’s pain more visible in our world.

"Campaigns like this are only made possible through brave client partners supporting creativity as a means to drive meaningful change and through a collaborative community of agencies all working towards the same goal: to help close the gender pain gap."