To help break the silence, Monzino, the main Italian cardiovascular institute, and VML launched "Women at Heart" – a campaign that uses the language of cinema to unmask a dangerous prejudice: women don't recognize heart attack symptoms because the media most times only shows male ones. The campaign features a short film showing 30 actresses unable to simulate a female heart attack, revealing an uncomfortable truth: if we don't see it, we don't recognize it.
Women at Heart
Because cinema isn't just art, it's influence
Client
- Istituto Cardiologico Monzino
Office
- Milan
In Italy, heart disease is the leading cause of death among women, but cultural narratives relegate it to a "men's disease."
The creative idea stems from the awareness that the representation of heart attacks in the media often focuses only on male symptoms, which leads to an incorrect and generalized interpretation of symptoms which, for women, are very different.
Michele Picci
Group CCO, VML Italy
In Italy, heart disease is the leading cause of death for women, who are twice as likely to suffer a heart attack – yet public awareness remains low largely due to media portraying male-centric symptoms. Women often don’t recognize their own symptoms because they’ve never seen them represented. The creative challenge was to address a medical issue in a emotionally compelling, culturally resonant way.
The creative idea for the campaign stems from the observation that the dominant narrative of heart attacks in the media is almost exclusively male, a fact that can make it difficult for women to correctly recognize and interpret their body's signals. We commissioned research that revealed alarming data: 93% of women are unable to recognize the symptoms of a female heart attack.
The creative idea was to expose a life-threatening knowledge gap using the very industry that helped create it: entertainment. Instead of a typical awareness campaign, “Women at Heart" staged a real casting session where a renowned director asked 30 actresses to portray a heart attack. Each one unknowingly performed only male-coded symptoms – chest clutching, collapsing, revealing a powerful truth: women don’t recognize their own heart attack signs because the media never taught them. This unscripted, cinematic format blurred the line between fiction and reality, making the issue impossible to ignore.
Revealing the depth of misinformation around this critical issue, “Women at Heart" was launched across digital and earned media and partnered with film schools for education, sparking widespread public debate. The campaign exceeded all brand engagement metrics and grew Monzino’s visibility by 250% – planting the seeds of long-term behavioral and cultural change. By making an invisible health crisis visible, the campaign proved that creative storytelling can directly impact awareness, perception and lives.
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