Each December, Publicis Groupe releases its holiday-themed Wishes video to reflect on the year that was and preview the year to come.

In 2022, Publicis took a different approach with its Useful Wishes video, leveraging it instead to raise awareness around the human papilloma virus (HPV).

The decision to leverage the annual event to focus on HPV is a personal one for Publicis CEO Arthur Sadoun, who was diagnosed with and treated for HPV-related cancer earlier this year.  

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly every American will get HPV at some point in their lives, noting that more than 42 million are currently infected with HPV types that cause disease and 13 million become infected annually. 

The video, which was released Tuesday and is just over two minutes long, features Sadoun in conversation with Maurice Lévy, chairman of the supervisory board of Publicis, discussing how 2022 was a “magnificent year” for the firm and how 80% of adults have the HPV virus. 

The two leaders were also joined by special guests for the video, including Academy Award-winning actor Michael Douglas and the Minions. 

Bringing in Douglas for the video was especially relevant given that he was diagnosed with and treated for stage 4 throat cancer nearly a decade ago. 

Since his recovery, Douglas has been a vocal advocate for raising awareness of HPV and its related cancers. He even starred in a one-minute public service announcement for the Oral Cancer Foundation.  

Douglas and Saudon said in the video that the most important part of raising awareness around the disease is discussing it openly and urging people to get vaccinated. 

One encouraging aspect of these HPV PSAs is that vaccination rates are on the rise, even among boys. Research released earlier this year found that the percentage of boys between the ages of 13 and 17 who had gotten at least one dose of the HPV vaccine rose from 56% to 75% between 2015 to 2020. 

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Healthy People 2030 initiative has a goal of getting 80% of adolescents vaccinated against HPV.  

Publicis is also the parent company of 2022 MM+M Agency 100 honoree Publicis Health Media.