Name of Company: TAP Pharmaceuticals (now Takeda Pharmaceuticals)
Agency which created Ad: AbelsonTaylor
Agency submitting: AbelsonTaylor
Creative Rationale: Remember when proton pump inhibitors were really dangerous? Like pre-cancerous cells dangerous? That was the state of the market when Prevacid launched in 1995. Physicians knew that PPIs were significantly better than H2RAs. But, at the same time, there was still concern about prescribing them, especially among primary care physicians. That’s where the Prevacid Tummy came in. Tummy represented a friendly, black-box-free PPI. The soft, puppet-like GI tract proved to be both approachable and endearing. No one wanted to see Tummy in pain. And the copy focused on what was important to patients and physicians, and that was symptom relief. Finally, Tummy proved an enduring symbol for Prevacid from launch, to OTC, and all the way through patent loss.
Any awards and honors received: Med Ad News Ad of the Year 1995, In-Awe Gold 1996, In-Awe Gold 1997, Global 1999, In-Awe Gold 2000, In-Awe Gold 2003, PMT Reader’s Choice Gold 2003, Global Award 2003, PMT Reader’s Choice Gold 2004, Rx Club Gold 2004, In-Awe Gold 2005
