Wyeth takes brutal tack with new TV ads

HONG KONG - Wyeth is aiming for parents' emotional heartstrings with a series of informercial-styled advertisements for its Prevenar brand, a vaccine that prevents pneumococcal diseases in young children.

Developed by M&C Saatchi Hong Kong, the campaign's objective is to enhance awareness of the disease, and urges parents to give the vaccine to their children as a precautionary measure. According to Sylvia Lee, managing director, M&C Saatchi Hong Kong, the campaign seeks to take a different approach.

"We wanted to use unexpected twists in daily life scenarios to show the nasty consequences that pneumococ- cal disease can bring to children," she said.

In one spot, a mother is teaching her daughter how to recognise her three sisters. When the daughter calls one ‘the third sister', her mother points out that she is the youngest sister,  revealing the third sister had passed away.

Lee added that the push was targeted at parents with babies aged between two- to five-months-old, who do not believe the disease will affect their family.

"Many parents know about it, but they do not think it is  relevant," she said. ‘(The campaign) is aimed at arousing public awareness in the shortest possible time, from an authoritative and credible source - doctors."