Becel’s “Love Letter” Reminds Moms To Take Care Of Themselves Too

To get women to make heart healthy choices and reduce their risk of heart disease and stroke, Becel and The Heart and Stroke Foundation invited moms to what they thought was a regular school play. Instead, each kid read their mom a personal, heartfelt letter explaining how well she takes care of them. Moms were then asked to take care of themselves too. Developed by DDB Canada's Toronto office, the integrated campaign encourages women to take better care of their health. Full press below.


Toronto, January 24, 2013 -- Heart disease and stroke is a leading cause of death for women in Canada1, yet 80 per cent of the risks can be reduced through lifestyle changes. To encourage women to prioritize their own well-being, Becel® recently launched a heartwarming integrated advertising campaign encouraging moms to take action and take better care of their health.

Becel® is the founding sponsor of the Heart and Stroke Foundation’s The Heart Truth™ campaign, which calls on women to put their own health first by assessing their risk for heart disease and stroke, talking to their doctor, and making heart healthy lifestyle choices in order to enjoy a long and healthy life with their loved ones.

“Heart disease and stroke take one in three Canadian women before their time2, resulting in too many children losing their mothers,” says Margaret McKellar, senior marketing manager – Spreads Canada. “Becel wants to drive home the relevance of heart disease and stroke with women and provide them with the tools necessary to make positive changes in their lives.”

With moms more likely to listen to their children than a marketing message, Becel® enlisted the help of elementary school students of an Ottawa public school to surprise their moms by reading aloud heartfelt letters explaining, in their own words, how well their mothers take care of them. The emotional live event created in partnership with the Heart and Stroke Foundation, was filmed for the campaign.

“Women put too much pressure on themselves and sometimes are so focused on the health and happiness of their family that their own health is sacrificed,” says Denise Rossetto, mother of twins and creative director at DDB Canada. “If a woman doesn’t look after herself, she may not be around for her family.”

Developed by DDB Canada’s Toronto office, the national integrated campaign, includes English and French versions of the spot “Love Letters,” an online video, entitled “It’s OK Mom” that people can personalize to encourage a mom and share with their social networks, and digital advertising, which is being supported with public relations and a blogger outreach program. To learn heart healthy tips, get a behind-the-scenes look of the commercial and read the children’s love letters, consumers can visit the campaign site: Becel.ca/EncourageAMom.

The campaign is the result of collaboration between Becel’s agency partners, with DDB Canada’s Toronto office responsible for the strategy, mass, digital and social executions, working closely with DDB Canada Montreal (French adaptation), Edelman (public relations and social media), Mindshare (media), Integrated (shopper marketing) and Ariad Communications (eblast), in partnership with Sapient who is responsible for Becel.ca.

The “Love Letters” TV spot launched on January 21, 2013, followed by cinema and digital campaign elements in market the first week in February for Heart Month.

DDB Canada has partnered with Unilever Canada as Becel’s agency of record since 2009.