DEERFIELD, Ill., October 10, 2011 - In support of its Way to Well Commitment, aimed at prevention and early detection of today’s leading diseases, Walgreens is serving as a title sponsor of a groundbreaking, original movie event, FIVE, an anthology of five short films exploring the impact of breast cancer on people’s lives. FIVE was directed by a cast of award-winning actresses and performers including Jennifer Aniston, Alicia Keys, Demi Moore, Patty Jenkins and Penelope Spheeris. FIVE will premiere on Lifetime Oct. 10, at 9 p.m. EST.
FIVE features an all-star ensemble cast and uses humor and drama to focus on the effect breast cancer and its different stages of diagnosis have on relationships, as well as how women perceive themselves while searching for strength, comfort, medical breakthroughs and ultimately, a cure.
“Walgreens is proud to support the FIVE project and to be working with its creators to inspire and educate women in the fight against breast cancer,” said Deborah Sabo, Walgreens vice president of marketing services. “Through our Way to Well Commitment, our pharmacists, nurse practitioners and other health care professionals are helping to provide access to the tools and support people need to manage their health, in thousands of communities nationwide.”
Lifetime’s FIVE shares the vision of the Walgreens Way to Well Commitment™ (www.walgreens.com/waytowell), an initiative that focuses on cancer, heart disease and diabetes, and which is bringing $100 million in health testing services, preventive health care resources and charitable programs to its stores nationwide over the next four years.
As part of the Way to Well Commitment, Walgreens is creating heightened awareness around the importance of prevention and early detection. Throughout October, Walgreens prescription bottles feature pink caps with the image of a pink ribbon and the message, “Get screened for early detection.”
In partnership with FIVE, Walgreens pink prescription caps will be featured in two of the short films, “Mia” and “Pearl,” and will play an important role in the first scene of “Pearl” as a reminder a woman needed to get a mammogram - which will ultimately save her life.
In addition to the pink caps, Walgreens and its customers, through in-store donation programs in October 2011 and October 2012, will donate a minimum of $1 million to Susan G. Komen for the Cure® to support Breast Self Awareness programs, including mammograms, in support of the fight against breast cancer.
More About FIVE
Custom content featuring Lyndsy Fonseca, star of one of the FIVE films, will follow each Walgreens integration to recap the film and further stress the importance of early detection. Longer-form pieces will also follow, featuring interviews with the films’ stars and directors.
The partnership is being led by content-creation agency LiquidThread and Walgreens media agency of record, Starcom USA. LiquidThread worked closely with Walgreens, as well as Lifetime and its production partners on all content development being delivered through a variety of media touch points.
"It was very important for the content to reflect Walgreens October breast cancer awareness efforts while also stressing the importance of health, education and early detection - the key tenets of Walgreens Way to Well Commitment™," said Gary Hoffman, director at LiquidThread. "In the end, we believe the content we developed with Lifetime strikes the perfect balance between the two messages."
ABOUT WALGREENS
Walgreens (www.walgreens.com) is the nation's largest drugstore chain with fiscal 2011 sales of $72 billion. The company operates 7,779 drugstores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Each day, Walgreens provides nearly 6 million customers the most convenient, multichannel access to consumer goods and services and trusted, cost-effective pharmacy, health and wellness services and advice in communities across America. Walgreens scope of pharmacy services includes retail, specialty, infusion, medical facility and mail service, along with respiratory services. These services improve health outcomes and lower costs for payers including employers, managed care organizations, health systems, pharmacy benefit managers and the public sector. Take Care Health Systems is a Walgreens subsidiary that is the largest and most comprehensive manager of worksite health and wellness centers and in-store convenient care clinics, with more than 700 locations throughout the country.
Walgreens
Jim Cohn, (847) 315-2950
http://news.walgreens.com