Jason McCourty promotes allergy awareness in FARE campaign
Key takeaways:
- A controversial commercial last year underscored a need for more food allergy awareness, FARE said.
- The new public service announcement uses humor while emphasizing respect for families with food allergy.
After Uber Eats sparked controversy last year with a planned Super Bowl commercial that poked fun at anaphylaxis, Food Allergy Research & Education worked with the company to change the ad and promote allergy awareness.
Now, FARE’s Ready to Act campaign has its own star power, featuring the nonprofit’s innovation ambassador Jason McCourty, a former NFL player who won Super Bowl LIII with the New England Patriots and the father of Kai, who has a peanut allergy.
During the new public service announcement, McCourty emphasizes the importance of preparation both before the Super Bowl and while taking care of his family.
“My playbook? Read labels, keep it allergy friendly and have an epinephrine nasal spray as a backup plan,” he says during the 60-second spot, which shows him kidding around with his daughter in the kitchen.
After a tough workout, McCourty also hits the pickleball court with Sung Poblete, PhD, RN, CEO of FARE, and Edith A. Perez, MD, FARE Health Equity Advisory Council co-chair, but Team FARE serves up an ace, much to McCourty’s chagrin.
“Humor used respectfully can be part of any campaign, as we are demonstrating with our fun, clever PSA,” Poblete told Healio.
“But a patient community, particularly one that lives under the weight of a potential life-threatening anaphylactic reaction to our food, should never be the punchline of an attempt at humor,” she continued. “FARE is setting an example of how humor can be used to inform rather than denigrate all while raising public awareness of a serious disease.”
Although more than 33 million people in the United States have a food allergy, Poblete said, research funding disproportionately remains low compared with other serious chronic diseases, with innovation lagging far behind as well. That is why it is important to increase public awareness of the prevalence and severity of food allergy, she added.
“We need to make certain it is understood that food allergy is a disease, and not a diet. We need food allergy training in schools, on airplanes, and in hotels and restaurants, along with stock epinephrine everywhere in our communities,” she said.
“We need meaningful investment in research and innovation, and we need them now to reverse the rising incidences of food allergy and ensure that patients and their families have the tools they need to manage this disease,” she said. “We all need to be ready to act.”
The PSA is sponsored by ARS Pharma and supported by PB5star.
In addition to the PSA, FARE is participating in the Taste of the NFL culinary event on Saturday, Feb. 8, at the National WWII Museum in New Orleans by partnering with chef Greg Reggio of Zea Rotisserie & Bar and presenting a dish that is free of the “top nine” allergens. McCourty will be at the event as well, sharing his family’s experience with food allergy.