Endo once again hit the vegetable aisle to illustrate the effects of Peyronie’s disease. While the company has tapped various produce in the past as part of its unbranded campaign to bring awareness to the disease, this time, Endo was looking to launch its first branded spot for its Peyronie’s treatment Xiaflex.
And it settled on a bent carrot. The 60-second spot uses wry humor and stays away from mockery as it tries to educate the viewer on the curve in the penis the disease causes.
Justin Mattice, Endo’s executive director of men’s health marketing, says there’s a need to tread lightly when dealing with the subject matter. While Peyronie’s disease itself is not life-threatening, it is a sensitive subject for men with real emotional consequences.
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“We’re talking about masculinity,” he said. “In terms of taste and tone, it’s really difficult to have something that cuts through the clutter, that gets the message across really clearly and to do it in a nonmocking way, and in a way where it’s factual and medical.”
Mattice sees the spots as solution-based. By using an everyday object such as a bent carrot, it’s easier to facilitate dialogue with a physician as opposed to having to remember and pronounce, “Peyronie’s disease.” Endo spent the better part of three and a half years on research to get to this point.
The target is not only the men themselves but also partners and HCPs. Currently, the ads are only positioned for female partners as that’s how the research was skewed. So although no immediate plans exist to expand to homosexual couples, Mattice doesn’t completely rule it out for the future.
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The ads are running pretty much anywhere you expect men 45-plus to be looking and listening: prime-time TV, targeted sports, streaming platforms, podcast ads, streaming music and health websites. Later in the year, there will be signage and educational materials in doctors’ offices. There will also be an unbranded disease-awareness push on social media platforms such as Reddit and Twitter.
Mattice is confident that the ads will lead to life-changing results.
“I can’t wait to hear from a physician I’ve known for a long time to say, ‘You’re never going to believe this. I had a patient come in, he was suffering for years and never thought there was an option available to him, and he said to me, ‘Doc, I’ve got that curved carrot,’ and the dialogue was then instantly onto treatment options.”
Xiaflex is the first and only FDA-approved nonsurgical treatment option for Peyronie’s disease. The drug is also approved to treat Dupuytren’s contracture, which causes collagen buildup and curving of the hands.
The med saw a 20% increase in revenue during this year’s third quarter compared to last year, hitting $106 million. Endo attributes the upswing to additional physician office activity and commercial execution.
