Biogen Uses Children’s Imaginations to Raise Awareness of Friedreich’s Ataxia

Friedreich's ataxia (FA) is a debilitating, degenerative, neuromuscular disorder that affects two in every 100,000 people worldwide. Its first symptoms usually appear in childhood and adolescence, and can be overlooked as normal age-related behaviours. These include: fatigue, scoliosis, diabetes, difficulty speaking and maintaining balance, visual and hearing impairment or cardiovascular problems.

​Friedreich and I's goal is to give visibility and raise awareness about the reality experienced by patients with Friedreich's Ataxia (FA). An awareness campaign, created by VML THE COCKTAIL for Biogen, a leading global biotechnology company, in collaboration with patient associations and scientific societies.

According to Ana Van Koninsgloo, patient engagement and communications head of Biogen Iberia, "Friedreich's Ataxia is a disease that needs to be seen and understood. With this campaign, we wanted to give patients a voice in a unique and emotional way, transforming their daily reality into a story that we can all understand. Friedreich and I is not just an awareness campaign, it is an invitation to see beyond the visible and to better understand a disease that affects thousands of people".

‘Friedreich and I’ is a film inspired by the stories of thousands of patients living with this disorder, which leverages a child’s imagination to reveal the harsh reality of a hidden disease. In the film, a young girl meets Friedreich, a furry creature who initially seems to be a childhood imaginary friend, but who soon starts to make daily life a constant challenge. We see how the girl grew up, eventually discovering that the furry character is Friedreich's Ataxia, which has remained invisible to everyone except her.

Through this delicate and accessible approach, the campaign uses storytelling to cut-through and stand out; raising awareness and starting conversations around a reality that, as with so many rare diseases, few people understand.

"The stories that produce the greatest empathy with the public are those that are born directly from the patients. Sometimes, it is simply enough to sit and listen: understand what they have to say, how they live their lives with an illness and what they would like the world to know about them. From there, we can build stories that not only reflect their reality in a shocking way, but that do so from their truth, with respect and sensitivity. With Friedreich and I we are looking for precisely this," says Natxo Díaz, global head of craft at VML THE COCKTAIL.

In addition to the spot – directed by Pablo Arreba and produced by La Boutique77 – the campaign also includes a book based on the story that the spot narrates, its own landing page and short videos in which those living with the disease, and their families, share their personal experiences stories. The campaign, carried out by Biogen in collaboration with the communication agency Burson, will also run across digital and social media, display, print and across video-on-demand platforms.

To learn more about the campaign and Friedreich's Ataxia, visit www.friedreichandi.es.