In My Shoes (iMS)
How do you visualize an invisible disease?
MS is a chronic neurological disease that affects the central nervous system. 1,000 people in Sweden are diagnosed every year. For more than two decades, Biogen has been a leader in researching and developing MS therapies for patients worldwide.
Due to a lack of knowledge of MS, many patients end up with disabilities and pass away prematurely. But if early signs are detected and treatment is initiated in time, the progression can be slowed, thus reducing both suffering and costs to society. The brief was to get politicians and healthcare providers to pay attention to the problem.
Introducing iMS, the world’s first 3D printed shoe that simulates what it is like to live with MS by letting the wearer experience two of the most common symptoms, fatigue and imbalance. The soles have a special uneven shape and the hollow soles are filled with lead weights adjusted to the wearer body weight.
We created a film portraying Susanne, who suffers from MS, and her best friend Malin who walked a day in Susanne’s shoes. A microsite presented information about the shoe, the symptoms and the costs of MS in Sweden. We got politicians and healthcare providers to try the shoe through a national event tour.
The campaign was designed as a conversation starter to empower and enable patients and relatives to put pressure on decision makers. Biogen formed a partnership with Sweden’s largest Patient Action Group for additional weight.
