Philadelphia, PA, May 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Beyond Celiac and a coalition of other celiac disease organizations have come together for Celiac Awareness Month in May with a new campaign to highlight the seriousness of celiac disease, a genetic autoimmune disorder that damages the small intestine when gluten is ingested. The creative campaign at www.KnowCeliac.org is now online and features social media content and digital videos created by advertising agency Hill Holliday.
The visually enticing food-prep videos feature seemingly delicious items like pasta salad, cupcakes and pizza. However, there is one jarring twist – they include ingredients such as razorblades, scorpions, and thumbtacks, viscerally communicating just how painful it is for people with celiac disease to eat food that contains gluten.
“The fact is, most people confuse gluten-free diets with celiac disease, but they are not remotely the same,” said Rick McHugh, one of the creative directors at Hill Holliday who helped develop the campaign. “We wanted to educate people, in a visceral way, what it’s really like to live with this disease. And we hope this work fosters empathy and understanding for celiac sufferers.”
Celiac disease is a serious, genetic autoimmune disorder with no cure or pharmaceutical treatment. Those who suffer from it experience intense physical symptoms such as abdominal bloating, pain and vomiting when they ingest gluten. Celiac disease can also lead to a number of other disorders including infertility, reduced bone density, neurological disorders, some cancers, and other autoimmune diseases.
“While 3.2 million Americans suffer from celiac disease, there tends to be a lot of confusion about the difference between a gluten-free diet as a lifestyle choice and the necessity of avoiding gluten because your body can’t tolerate it,” said Alice Bast, CEO of Beyond Celiac. “We at Beyond Celiac were happy to have a leadership role in the campaign’s development and hope it helps to educate as well as inspire compassion and empathy for those who experience the physical and social pain of celiac disease.”
The KnowCeliac.org campaign was convened by Beyond Celiac and created in partnership with other organizations that serve the celiac disease community, including the Canadian Celiac Association, the Celiac Disease Foundation, the Gluten Intolerance Group, and the National Celiac Association.
“Our mission at Beyond Celiac is to advance research to find treatment options and, eventually, a cure for celiac disease. Generating more awareness about the disease helps to further this purpose,” Bast concluded.
About Beyond Celiac
For more than 15 years, Beyond Celiac has been the leading patient advocate and research-driven celiac disease organization working to drive diagnosis, advance research and accelerate the discovery of new treatments and a cure. By engaging with the top scientists in the field, awarding research grants, and supporting the community, Beyond Celiac envisions a world in which people with celiac disease can live healthy lives and eat without fear – a world Beyond Celiac. www.BeyondCeliac.org.
About Hill Holliday
Fighting the daily share battle in the noisiest categories. It’s what we do. Hill Holliday is proud to be one of the top creative marketing agencies in the country, with more than 500 employees across our network. Since 1968, we’ve built our business on winning that daily share battle for our clients in the most competitive categories. Blending superior creative, media, and technology, we deliver game-changing ideas for such industry leaders as Bank of America, Tempur Sealy International, Party City, Capella University, Optum, Boar’s Head, Simple Mobile, and Frontier Communications. For more about our people, our work, and our culture, please visit www.hhcc.com.
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