Diabetes UK

Diabetes UK has a problem. The disease is on the increase at an alarming rate in this country; no one really understands it; and no one has ever heard of Diabetes UK. It's hardly surprising: the issue doesn't get a great deal of exposure, and any advertising and marketing produced by the charity has failed to resonate with the public. With this in mind, the charity has teamed up with Tesco and is now spending a small fortune on media plastering our national newspapers and the London Underground with a series of bleak images of sufferers being clutched by their loved ones. These would look at home on the wall of the average GP's surgery. But if Diabetes UK think they've finally cracked the problem with a national campaign that will open everyone's eyes to the issue, they are, I'm afraid, deluding themselves. This is a classic wallpaper campaign that isn't even going to register in the public's consciousness. And I don't say this lightly.

For a start, it's a massive mistake to focus on the terrible moment of diagnosis. Unless, of course, the intention is to scare the living daylights out of sufferers and those in fear of being diagnosed. The aggressively hectoring headline demanding you check yourself out for your family's sake doesn't help in the least. The fact of the matter is that Diabetese UK does a fantastic amount of work supporting and educating those with the disease. To highlight this, a brand campaign has to inform and connect with its audience in a memorable and engaging fashion. Just think of the wonderful job the British Heart Foundation did with the Vinnie Jones campaign; a campaign that not only amused and informed the nation, but actually saved 28 lives.

The truth of the matter is that this charmless campaign will do nothing to address the growing problem that the UK now faces. It's a crying shame and a terrible waste of money. Money that charities like Diabetes UK can't afford to simply pour down the drain.