Soleil Moon Frye Makes Unconventional Ads to Appear on Lifetime
By Movieguide® Contributor
Pharmaceutical company GSK is approaching advertisement in a new way, creating a 17-minute short film with actress Soleil Moon Frye discussing the challenges of Meningitis B.
The film will be pared down into 3-minute vignettes that will appear on Lifetime TV during ad breaks. It will be further broken down into “snackable” content suitable for social media. The film chronicles Frye discussing Meningitis B with parents and experts on the disease. Lifetime TV regular, Melissa Joan Hart will also appear in the vignettes.
Viewers of Lifetime movies that include the new form of advertising will be told that a new short film will be presented along with the movie.
While the short film, vignette, form of advertising is unconventional, this isn’t the first time it has been implemented. In 2020, A+E’s cable outlet ran a 15-minute “mini-movie” starring Mario Lopez as KFC’s Col. Sanders, poking fun at the network’s soapy dramas. In 2021, Lifetime ran a vignette starring Monique Coleman, that showcased Procter & Gamble’s, Olay. That vignette ran during the premiere of Lifetime’s A CHRISTMAS DANCE REUNION.
GSK’s vignette, however, posed a unique challenge as pharmaceutical ads need to include disclaimers and, if necessary, potential complications or side effects to taking the drug. The vignettes, therefore, discuss the disease without mentioning that GSK manufactures a vaccine that can be used to treat Meningitis B. The campaign’s aim is to raise awareness about the disease, and prompt viewers to ask their doctors more questions.
“It was a journey for all of us,” Jennifer Ferguson, vice president of brand partnerships creative for A+E Networks, said. “We wanted to create something that women would watch, remember and share with their friends.”
As consumers become used to ad-free viewing thanks to many streaming services cutting them out, it has become harder for advertisers on cable television to engage viewers. Advertisers are starting to realize that they need to create content that is just as compelling as the TV that it is interrupting if they want viewers to pay attention.
Frye’s short film, I NEVER THOUGHT TO ASK: A MOM’S QUEST FOR ANSWERS, is available in full here. The vignettes will begin airing on Lifetime Sunday, June 25th.
Movieguide® previously reported on the short film:
Actresses Melissa Joan Hart and Soleil Moon Frye want to spread the word about vaccination against meningitis B in their new documentary I NEVER THOUGHT TO ASK: A MOM’S QUEST FOR ANSWERS.
“[A]s a mom, I really thought that my kids had been vaccinated for meningitis B. And it turns out that meningitis B is completely different and it really affects 16 to 23 year olds … one of the groups that are affected most,” Frye told the TODAY SHOW.
Meningitis B is a rare disease that infects the brain and spinal cord caused by meningococcal. According to the CDC,” Even when it is treated, meningococcal disease kills 10 to 15 infected people out of 100.”
Both actresses have teenage children and so the threat of meningitis b was naturally a concern for them, and inspired them to make this documentary.
“We, as friends, we talk a lot about all the things that, you know, we’re worried about with our children and things we’re experiencing with our children as they’re becoming teenagers,” Hart said. “She [Frye] went on this journey of telling the story through the movie and I got to be a part of it as she explained it to me and she told me about her journey.”
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