The campaign aims to promote prevention in the broadest sense by encouraging people to pay attention to how much the way we function—our diet, physical activity, mental condition, addictions, environmental risks and so on—affects our health. The initiative is connected with the Sejm and Senate adopting the Public Health Act.

Launched in mid-October, the campaign is entering another stage—online activities—after a brief informational and educational introduction. ORGANISM IN A GOOD MOOD is a several-minute film created in the modern “brand hero” format, in which organs sing a song about their own well-being...

The concept developed by a team of specialists—the digital agency VML and TFC, which specializes in public-awareness campaigns—is intended to draw attention to serious problems in a light and accessible way. Research into international public-awareness campaigns shows that scaremongering alone, especially in messages aimed at young people, is completely ineffective.

“When difficult and important, often shocking social phenomena and stark statistics are presented, they should be accompanied by positive information that offers hope for improving the situation,” says Tatiana Mindewicz-Puacz, a public-awareness campaign expert. “People need motivation to decide to change, and even when that change is for the better, it usually means stepping outside their comfort zone.”

The spot is a song sung by felt organs, with a light, catchy melody and simple lyrics. This increases its viral potential—that is, the chance of reaching as many people as possible online—which is very important in the first phase of every public-awareness campaign.

“We want to complain, because you smoke us up so much; we choke and suffocate, there’s no way to breathe!!! You inhale and exhale smoke, and we’re at our wits’ end—eventually it will turn into CANCER,” complain the lungs, some of the film’s protagonists. At the end of the spot, a tired heart asks its HUMAN to show greater moderation so that all the organs have a chance to live healthily for as long as possible.

“The film broadcast on YouTube is only a dynamic beginning, an introduction to a public discussion that must be initiated if there is to be a change in the area of prevention. The need for change is obvious when we consider that lifestyle diseases are beginning to reach epidemic proportions,” representatives of the Ministry of Health say. “It is not enough to ensure good treatment alone; everything possible must be done so as NOT TO GET SICK.”

“I realize that health education and raising awareness may seem boring and not very catchy, but we must understand that such activities are very important because they bring long-term benefits in the future—for us, our children and our children’s children,” comments Beata Małecka-Libera, Deputy Minister of Health and Government Plenipotentiary for the Public Health Act project, responsible for preparing the National Health Programme. “It is very important to us to reach as many people as possible with this message. The campaign is intended to draw attention to the problem and inspire action, which is why we entrusted its implementation to experts in this type of activity. This made it possible to combine forces—medical knowledge with an understanding of how to conduct effective public-awareness campaigns.”

According to data from Statistics Poland, the leading causes of death in Poland are currently cardiovascular diseases (46% of all deaths among Poles) and cancer (24.5% of all deaths among Poles). It should be emphasized that most risk factors for developing these diseases are shared: overweight and obesity, smoking, low physical activity, excessive consumption of animal fats and alcohol.

More about the next stage of the “How a HEALTHY person works” public-awareness campaign, carried out by the Ministry of Health, can be found on the ministry’s website. What do you think of the felt-organ spot?

Ministry of Health/ii