• by Les Luchter , June 24, 2024

To mark today’s second anniversary of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, D2C sexual healthcare marketer Wisp is sponsoring a dramatic six-minute film titled “Hippocrites.”

That’s no misspelling -- but a deliberate combination of the “Hippocratic” Oath with “hypocrites,” a message also conveyed in the film’s trailer.

Said to be inspired by real events. “Hippocrites” interposes the stories of a Texas doctor, first shown taking the Hippocratic Oath in 1995, and a present-day young woman, first shown looking at the results of a pregnancy test. Her interactions with the doc prove fruitless due to Texas' anti-abortion laws, and the woman travels to New Mexico to get treated. The doctor is also shown reporting to local authorities that the woman was asking about an  abortion.

“25 states now have near-total abortion bans or laws limiting access, forcing doctors to break their Hippocratic Oath,” the film concludes. “Together we can stop the hypocrisy, No More Hippocrites.”

Wisp’s support of “Hippocrites” might seem like a sharp detour from the brand’s usual humorous messaging, as exemplified by such campaigns as "Vagina Academy" and even a recent “Night of Hysterical Women” at New York’s Gotham Comedy Club, which was also geared to the SCOTUS anniversary.

“We know different people react and digest this important subject matter in different ways,” Wisp tells Marketing Daily. “As the concept behind the #NoMoreHippocrites campaign focused on the reproductive health community and included involvement from our medical advisory team, we felt a more serious tone matched the content. It feels more appropriate.” 

Wisp also got serious for the first anniversary of the SCOTUS decision last year with a campaign challenging those who oppose abortion to watch its “Made by Choice” YouTube video, or trigger a pro-abortion donation.

Wisp says “No More Hippocrites” is running on digital and social. “No More Hippocrites” pages on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok have already been running teasers and other posts for a couple of weeks.

Viewers will be directed to the film via such media as programmatic digital-out-of-home billboards, transit and urban panels in Atlanta, Phoenix and New York City, guerilla marketing/sidewalk decals in locations to be determined; radio; programmatic display; and search engine marketing.

“No More Hippocrites” was produced by Rebolucion and directed by Argentine duo SWAN, with original music by Halley Sound.

“The film itself is unbranded,” Wisp notes, “but in the context of the web experience shows the connection to Wisp and those involved in its creation/production.”