It’s stressful being a sports fan and Bayer knows this anxiety can have a detrimental impact on a person’s heart health.
That’s why in anticipation of Super Bowl Sunday and as part of its commitment to supporting American Heart Month, Bayer has launched a campaign for Aspirin to highlight the link between sports fandom and heart health.
As part of the educational effort, Bayer is deeming Aspirin the “Official Sponsor of Fans’ Hearts” and encouraging fans to prioritize their cardiovascular health by looking up their risk factors at CheckYourHeartRisks.com. The website offers fans a quick health assessment, advice for improving their heart health and medical resources to get in touch with a provider.
To get the message out there, Bayer is also partnering with NBC Sports and Bally Sports to pursue multimedia content and regional media integrations featuring sports stars and TV icons, including play-by-play commentators Michael “Doc” Emrick, Kevin Harlan and Charley Steiner.
Heart disease continues to be the leading cause of death in the U.S., according to the American Heart Association, and an intense game that comes down to the wire can only exacerbate the situation. Bayer stated that research indicates around 20% of heart attacks occur without any recognizable warning signs and that the risk can more than double when a person’s favorite team plays.
The pharma giant said the goal of the effort is to make sure fans are taking the proper, proactive steps to ensure their cardiovascular health is in top shape so they can follow the campaign tagline to “keep their hearts in the game.”
“It doesn’t matter what sport, league, or team you cheer for, every fan has experienced heart-pounding moments when watching their team play,” Kelly Fanning, GM and VP of pain and cardio at Bayer Consumer Health U.S., said in a statement. “While that feeling may seem trivial, the stress that comes from those heart-pounding moments, along with other risk factors, may increase your cardiovascular risk. As a leader in heart health, we wanted to find an impactful new way to reach and educate people who may be at increased cardiovascular risk without even realizing it.”
Bayer announced the campaign launch weeks after it acquired Blackford Analysis in a play to bolster its digital medical imaging capabilities and expand its reach in the radiology space.
