For two weeks, a strange pink creature has been appearing on the streets and subway stations of Toronto, Canada. Its appearance, halfway between a monster and a huge mass of chewing gum, has aroused the curiosity of passers-by and generated speculation on social networks. Some wondered if it was an alien, an action related to Halloween or some advertising campaign. Now it has been discovered that the character is called Flammy and represents chronic inflammation, a biological process that the Sinai Health Foundation wants to place at the center of the public conversation.
The health organization officially presented the character on November 2, revealing that his appearances were part of an awareness campaign and fundraising for medical research. The initiative stems from a communication difficulty; Chronic inflammation can intervene in the development of serious diseases, but it is invisible to most people and difficult to identify as a health problem in itself.
To address that challenge, Sinai Health Foundation has decided to give body, face and personality to a phenomenon that cannot be seen, using a character designed to arouse curiosity before explaining the scientific message it represents.
The campaign began with a teaser phase in which Flammy appeared in different places in Toronto without his identity being publicly explained. Its presence in everyday spaces, especially on public transport, gave rise to photographs, videos and conversations between citizens who tried to find out what was behind that pink creature with a permanently angry expression. The proximity of Halloween helped fuel interpretations about the character.
On November 2, Sinai Health Foundation finally revealed the meaning of the character. Flammy is the personification of chronic inflammation, and his grumpy expression represents a problem that, despite its consequences, remains largely out of public attention.
The campaign is articulated around the idea that different diseases that are apparently unrelated can share biological mechanisms linked to chronic inflammation. Because inflammation is a natural response of the immune system to infections or injuries. However, when that response persists or is not adequately regulated, it can cause progressive damage to healthy cells and tissues.
Original post from Sinai Health Foundation on Instagram
Chronic inflammation has been linked to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, certain types of cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, and complications during pregnancy. According to data released in the context of the campaign, more than half of global deaths are linked to diseases related to inflammatory processes, an association that does not mean that chronic inflammation is the direct cause of all these deaths.
The foundation seeks to take advantage of Flammy’s visibility to explain why investigating inflammatory mechanisms could help detect certain diseases before symptoms appear, improve their prevention and develop more specific treatments. “Inflammation does not stop at the limits of a department or a disease, so neither can our research”said Anne-Claude Gingras, Vice President of Research at Sinai Health. The researcher believes that studying diseases in isolation can make it difficult to identify shared mechanisms and delay advances that could benefit patients with different pathologies.
Thus, Flammy’s presentation also serves to give visibility to the research projects carried out by Sinai Health in Toronto. Among them is the work of the team led by Kenneth Croitoru, which has identified an immune response detectable through blood tests years before symptoms of Crohn’s disease appear. The finding opens new possibilities to investigate early detection and prevention of damage associated with this pathology.
The campaign also pursues a fundraising objective. Sinai Health Foundation points out that philanthropic funding is especially important to develop research in early stages, when there is not yet enough evidence to access certain conventional aid.
The initiative directs citizens to the ItsTimeForAnswers.ca platform, where they can learn about research projects and contribute financially to their development.
“With the introduction of Flammy and this campaign we hope to draw attention to the role that chronic inflammation can play in major diseases and the urgent need to research how to address it”explained Louis de Melo, President and CEO of Sinai Health Foundation.
The campaign stands out for using common resources from entertainment and brand communication to address a scientific issue.
The mystery phase, the physical presence of the character in the city and the spontaneous conversations on social networks allowed us to build a first relationship with the public before introducing the informative content. In this way, the organization has reversed the usual order of an awareness campaign: first it has aroused interest and then it has explained the problem.
Flammy also allows you to visually represent a concept that is difficult to communicate. His exaggerated appearance and moody personality make it easy for chronic inflammation to acquire a recognizable identity, without the need to initially resort to clinical images or medical explanations.
The development of the campaign has involved different specialized collaborators. BOL Creative Production House has been in charge of the character design and Legacy Effects has been in charge of the construction of the costume. Media planning is handled by The Aber Group, while Agnostic is involved in public relations. The audiovisual production has also included Saints Editorial, Darling VFX and PIRATE SOUND.
The main uniqueness of the initiative lies in making a medical problem visible through a character who, initially, did not seem to have any relationship with health. This creative decision has allowed chronic inflammation to be transferred from the field of scientific research to the daily conversations of citizens.
The question now is whether the notoriety achieved by Flammy will translate into greater knowledge of chronic inflammation and financial support for researchers. Because, although the pink creature has managed to attract the attention of Toronto, the Sinai Health Foundation’s goal is for the conversation to continue once it disappears from its streets.
