AbbVie is keeping the “pedal to the metal” motif with its latest Rinvoq ad, "Helicopter," which feels like a '90s rave spliced with an Air Force recruitment video.
Focusing on Rinvoq’s new atopic dermatitis label, the commercial starts off hard with a sirenlike tune accompanying a woman who's running to a helicopter but “being disrupted” by the itch of eczema.
A man at the gym and a woman DJing both have the same problem. And when the itch bites, all get hit by a multicolored force field, which falls in with the '90s rave music.
But that itch doesn’t last long, as now they “can disrupt eczema with Rinvoq” and go back to DJing, working out or helping rescue people from a helicopter.
This is along the same lines of AbbVie's older Rinvoq ad, "Mission: Motorcycle," which focuses on its arthritis use. In it, a woman drives a motorcycle fast (while clearly careful not to break the speed limit), showing she's not letting her condition hold her back.
"Helicopter" dials the adrenaline up to 11, though, and feels at times a little extreme for a pill that treats a skin condition. The ad began airing in late May, and AbbVie has already spent $3.7 million in just the last week for the commercial, according to the real-time TV ad trackers at iSpot.tv.
A JAK inhibitor and one of two autoimmune follow-ups to AbbVie’s Humira, Rinvoq nabbed an FDA approval in January for treating patients with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis who have failed—or aren’t suitable for—other pills or injections. It was already approved for rheumatoid arthritis.
It’s up against the might of Sanofi and Regeneron’s major blockbuster Dupixent in the eczema indication, which is not an easy rival. But if Rinvoq can capture significant market share, the new use should really help boost sales; AbbVie envisions $1.7 billion from eczema alone by 2025.