Usher isn’t just headlining the upcoming Super Bowl LVIII halftime show, he’s also participating as the lead celebrity voice in Sanofi’s The 1 Pledge campaign launched Wednesday morning.
Coinciding with the start of Diabetes Awareness Month, the French drugmaker is commencing with a nationwide storytelling movement to highlight the diversity of voices among the type 1 diabetes patient population and caregivers.
Type 1 diabetes is a lingering public health concern in the U.S., with nearly 250,000 children and adolescents diagnosed with the disease while about 1.7 million adults have the condition.
The goal of the effort is to not only share experiences among that community but also encourage people to get screened, with additional resources available at The1Pledge.com. By intervening earlier in the care journey, Sanofi is aiming to mitigate the often life-threatening health complications that patients can face when they don’t receive timely treatment.
The 1 Pledge campaign is kicking off with a surround-sound event in Times Square and will expand with events in other geographies throughout the year. On social media, people can learn more about the movement by following the hashtag #ScreenforType1.
The movement also features three 30-second ads encouraging people to get screened for type 1 diabetes along with extended testimonials featuring Usher and two other prominent figures.
This includes Robin Arzón, VP of fitness programming and head instructor at Peloton as well as a type 1 diabetes patient and ESPN insider Adam Schefter, whose wife lives with type 1 diabetes and has been a longtime advocate for raising awareness for the disease.
The three celebrities and other social media personalities participating in The 1 Pledge are paid spokespeople for Sanofi.
Usher said his commitment to using his celebrity profile to shine a light on type 1 diabetes was largely motivated by his child’s diagnosis with the disease at age six.
“Since the day my child was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, the condition is something I never stop thinking about,” he said. “Had we detected my child’s type 1 diabetes before their diagnosis it could have given us valuable time to prepare. My child’s bravery inspires me every day and my hope in partnering with Sanofi is to inspire other families in this important work. Do not wait until you see symptoms. Pledge to screen for type 1 diabetes today so you can prepare for what could come.”
The 1 Pledge launch comes days after Sanofi released its most recent earnings report and announced that it was entering the next phase of its Play to Win strategy.
The pharma giant hasn’t been shy about leaning on celebrity voices as part of its consumer-facing advertising this year.
In September, Sanofi tasked Ice-T with narrating a commercial encouraging older adults to prepare for the flu season by speaking with their healthcare provider about getting a flu shot, including its own Fluzone shot.
