The Pague Menos drugstore chain launches movement buying up advertising space before first aid videos, avoiding delays

lew'lara\TBWA

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São Paulo, Brazil

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In a world where most people seek information and guidance from the internet, even a second’s delay can cost a life when it comes to first aid. That's why Brazil’s Pague Menos drugstore chain (which owns the world's largest pharmaceutical retail channel on YouTube with 225,000 subscribers), is launching the unprecedented NO AD initiative, which removes ads from urgent health-related content. 

The internet has made life easier for everyone in countless ways. One of them is to provide easy access to advice on how people can roll up their sleeves and deal with simple everyday issues. Checking out tutorials, videos, and guides on how to do things yourself has grown from a trend to almost instinctive behavior in modern society. And this behavior is repeated in situations of danger and emergency. However, there is a factor that directly interferes here: advertisements, those precious seconds before videos or content that might be crucial in emergency situations.

Consequently, Pague Menos is launching a movement that reinforces its commitment to improving access to healthcare for all Brazilians. In partnership with the Lew'Lara\TBWA ad agency, this drugstore chain launches the NO AD initiative, mapping situations that require urgent action, such as closed-chest heart massage, a Heimlich anti-choking maneuver, stroke identification, mouth-to-mouth respiration, and staunching bleeds, among others. It contacted content creators presenting these situations and proposed that they demonetize their videos, with Pague Menos agreeing to pay them a certain amount in exchange for their potential advertising income.

"Investing in advertising is vital, but it can sometimes be rethought for the sake of a greater good: people's health. Initially, resistance to this idea was strong, with many rejections, but it finally became a reality. Now, we want to invite other companies and industries in the sector, that also believe health comes first, to join this movement and help us save lives. In an emergency, every second counts, and this is beyond price,” says Renato Camargo, Vice President for Customers, Pague Menos and Extrafarma. 

This brand successfully partnered with the Descomplica Enfermagem and Medical TV nursing insights and medical information channels, with 15 demonetized videos. They can be checked out on the official project page at the Sempre Bem healthcare portal.

"Why does NO AD get so much attention from people as soon as they know about the project? Because everyone identifies with this real insight. The idea was inspired by real-life behavior that happens al he time today: in emergencies, many people look for first aid content on YouTube. But in this race against time, those five seconds of ad-time before the video can make so much difference. So the disruptive solution was to say ‘Yes’ to life and ‘No’ to advertising," says Rodrigo da Matta, Executive Creative Director at Lew'Lara\TBWA.

Inspiring the future: This campaign is presented as an initiative that encourages other companies, brands, platforms, and creators to join this positive trend by not placing ads in slots that precede first aid videos or advice that could potentially save lives.

It thus firms up its status as an innovative business and the most comprehensive healthcare hub on the market, with a growing variety of services and solutions for its customers. This brand is committed to inspiring other companies to adopt this stance and join this initiative as a high priority.

The NO AD movement joins other actions undertaken by this drugstore chain that enhance the health of the Brazilian population. Among them, the Sempre Bem wellness platform is particularly noteworthy, offering comprehensive educational content packed with useful information on promoting health and well-being since 2011. It also launched the innovative PodSempre podcast, an innovative retail initiative that features content related to health, beauty, quality of life and behavior.

The Pague Menos and all those involved in this movement stress that these videos are last-resort resources. In any emergency, the first step should be to contact the local emergency service hotline.