Female artists including Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Charli XCX, Chappell Roan, and Sabrina Carpenter will be in the spotlight at the 2025 Grammy Awards on Sunday (Feb. 2). Amid this celebration of female talent, Eli Lilly is looking to reach women with an urgent message about early breast cancer detection.
The pharmaceutical company will air an ad during the 67th annual Grammy Awards that encourages viewers to check for signs of breast cancer and seek help from their doctor. Lilly hopes to convey that there is hope within a cancer diagnosis when early detection takes place.
“Hands,” created by agency Wieden+Kennedy Portland, follows a woman through her day-to-day life with a focus on her hands. She plays piano, holds hands with her partner, works in the garden, soothes her child, dresses, peels an orange, and makes art.
Toward the end of the film, she discovers a lump in her breast that leads her to a cancer screening appointment.
The ad tells viewers: “The most powerful way to fight cancer is in your hands. Most cancers are curable when caught early.”
Lina Polimeni, chief corporate brand officer at Lilly, told ADWEEK that while awareness of breast cancer is high, more public education about early detection and treatment options for cancer are needed.
“There’s so much more a woman can take into her own hands, literally,” Polimeni said. “Early screenings allow for more ownership, a better prognosis, and more hope versus years ago.”
In the pharma market, Lilly is going up against Novartis with its early breast cancer treatments. Lilly has the drug Verzenio, while Novartis’ Kisqali was recently greenlit by the FDA.
One week after Lilly’s Grammys debut, Novartis will air a Super Bowl commercial starring Hailee Steinfeld to bring attention to early breast cancer detection. A Lilly spokesperson declined to say whether the company was also advertising during the Super Bowl.
About a month after its Grammys ad, Lilly will also host experiential activations to “make sure health screenings reach people in real life,” Polimeni said.
Building a brand with ‘humanity’
Since 2021, Lilly has been focused on building a corporate brand that has an emotional connection with consumers.
“All pharmaceutical companies are patient-centric, but the difference at Lilly is the humanity,” Polimeni said. “Our effort is to create the Lilly brand in the eyes and hearts of the general population.”
