Abbott has enlisted telenovela star Gabriela Spanic to push the message that getting screened for colon cancer doesn’t have to be dramatic.
Spanic is known for telenovelas such as “La Usurpadora,” a 1998 hit TV show in which she played twin sisters with diametrically opposed characters. Playing the wicked, manipulative Paola Bracho and the kind, humble Paulina Martinez in the same show, Spanic showed a dramatic range that launched her career to new heights.
Now, Abbott is leveraging Spanic’s star power to encourage more Latino adults to be screened for colon cancer. Spanic will star in a Spanish-language campaign that draws on the drama of telenovelas to tell culturally relevant stories about handling difficult health conversations.
The campaign will see Spanic bring her “signature dramatic flair to the humorous spots,” Abbott said. The company is using humor to convey the message that, although life can be dramatic, getting screened for colorectal cancer doesn’t have to be.
“Humor can make it easier to start difficult conversations,” Peter Wood, vice president, screening, at Abbott’s cancer diagnostics business, said in a statement. “We hope this campaign turns greater awareness into action by encouraging more Hispanic adults to ask their healthcare provider about Cologuard Plus and get screened for colon cancer.”
The focus on Latino patients continues a strategy that began before Abbott acquired Cologuard Plus as part of its $23 billion takeover of Exact Sciences. In 2024, Exact ran its first Spanish-language Cologuard ads to reach a community that is disproportionately affected by colon cancer. The ads ran across TV, radio, and digital and social channels.
Exact played it straight in the first Spanish-language TV spot for Cologuard, putting a husband and father at the center of the ad. But in English, the company has leaned into opportunities for humor provided by its stool-based test, enlisting Lil Jon, the poop emoji and a singing toilet for one ad and sponsoring another campaign titled “Pick Up Your Poop.”