Digital

In the healthcare reform debate, someone had to stand up for abortion coverage.

“It’s No Joke”

The Challenge: During the 2010 healthcare reform debates, the Center for Reproductive Rights wanted to rally opposition to proposed bans on the abortion coverage millions of American women already have by underscoring the dangerous, real-life consequences.

Our Approach: Fenton developed and executed an integrated communications campaign with a provocative video ad at its center. Eschewing the look and feel of standard issue ads, “It’s No Joke” takes place entirely in a comedy club and drives home the life-and-death seriousness of abortion in an unexpected way. We ran the ad on cable networks in DC and online news sites. We got additional bounce with an aggressive earned and social media campaign that included outreach to the blogging community and amplified Twitter efforts – urging pro-choice constituents to demand that their senators not ban abortion coverage.

Progress, Accelerated:  “It’s No Joke” received online coverage in major news outlets including the New York Times, USA Today, ABC, MSNBC and Washington Post. Prominent blogs like Huffington Post, Salon and Politico stoked even more coverage. Within a few months, CCR’s Twitter followers grew to over 700 (and rising), quickly surpassing their peers and injecting the Center as a leading voice on the issue.