Alzheimer's Society advert 'The Long Goodbye' is back on air

As our film, The Long Goodbye, begins its second advertising run, I wanted to reflect on the purpose of this campaign and why it’s so important that we’re telling this heartbreaking story, which is the reality for many.  

We have to be brave in showing just how devastating dementia is by telling stories like The Long Goodbye – while also making it clear that Alzheimer’s Society will be there throughout this journey.

Dementia is the UK’s forgotten crisis

Dementia is the biggest health and social care issue of our time. But it isn’t the priority it needs to be. It’s the UK’s forgotten crisis.

Shockingly, only 20% of people know that dementia will affect at least 1 in 3 people born today, and only 10% of people know that it’s the UK’s biggest killer.

This low awareness and understanding of dementia amongst the public intensifies the difficult realities faced by millions of people across the UK that we see day in, day out across our work at Alzheimer’s Society. And makes it easier for decision makers to avoid addressing the huge challenges dementia poses.

Sadly, the people who already understand and care about dementia won’t be able to solve it alone. We need to make more people care about our country’s biggest health and social care crisis to make it the priority it needs, and deserves, to be.

To do this, we must be brave in showing just how devastating dementia is by telling stories like The Long Goodbye and showing that Alzheimer’s Society will be there with vital support services, campaigning for change and funding groundbreaking research.

Reflecting on The Long Goodbye

As with all our campaigns, we collect robust evidence and data to understand their impact and effectiveness. 

This data and the feedback we received in response to The Long Goodbye in March and April formed the basis of careful discussions and debate which informed our decision that running the film again is the right thing to do.

We understand that some people found the advert upsetting. At every stage of development of The Long Goodbye, we took immense care to ensure we’re telling this story compassionately and authentically. It was never our intention to cause distress. 

This time around, we’ve taken the decision to add our Dementia Support Line number to the end of the advert to make our support offering even clearer to those who want to reach out for help.

I was blown away by the huge number of people who shared their heartfelt gratitude and relief that their dementia story was finally being told. Many of these people had felt alienated by previous advertising that focused predominantly on those ‘living well’ - feeling guilty that this wasn’t their or their loved one’s experience.

Both reactions reflect how no experience of dementia is the same as another.

The Long Goodbye is one experience that needs to be told if we’re going to give dementia the overdue attention it deserves and transform the dementia experience forever. 

But we’ll continue to reflect many other realities and experiences across our communications, including throughout World Alzheimer’s Month this September.

As our CEO Kate Lee said back in March, the Long Goodbye isn’t an easy watch, but it’s an important one if we’re going to create real and meaningful change for people living with dementia now, and in the future.