Research from St John Ambulance shows that people are afraid to give CPR to a woman because they are worried about touching breasts, and because of her gender, a woman is less likely to receive CPR in public than a man. Our ambition for the campaign was twofold: raise awareness of the gender disparity and show that training is the solution. Our creative answer? The CPR Bra … the world’s first life-saving bra. Using the very thing that people are scared to remove as the vehicle for our message.
Concerns around people’s comfort levels about performing CPR on women have been frequently raised in St John Ambulance training sessions – we took this anecdotal information, and we turned it into a conversation that everyone should hear with an integrated campaign.
Launched on Restart a Heart Day, we worked with a diverse mix of influencers to raise awareness of the CPR Bra and we were fortunate to partner with a brilliant quartet of women – Chelsea FC Women’s Captain, Millie Bright, broadcaster and DJ, Ashley James, broadcaster, disability activist and content creator, Lucy Edwards, and activist, Sharon Gaffka. They started a wave of interest in the campaign and other influencers followed suit, keen to wear our bra and share the story – everyone from Myleene Klass to Sophie Ellis Bextor.
The story went far and wide with over 150 pieces of coverage, including a hero 13-minute segment on BBC Breakfast, complete with CPR training demonstration. We had a social reach over 17 million and saw 26,400% increase in traffic to the CPR Bra landing page on website (including first aid advice and donate button) within the first 24 hours. The campaign has also featured in Early Day Motion tabled by Kirith Entwistle MP of support for St John Ambulance – and we have requests to make the CPR Bra available for sale almost daily … so watch this space!
The campaign was included in the PR Week Top 11 Campaigns of 2024, having scooped the November Campaign of the Month with a whopping 87% of the vote – and it also made Famous Campaigns Top 50 Campaigns of 2024.