No run-of-the-mill desk workers here—AbbVie’s trio of “Just Okay” TV commercials for Rinvoq’s arthritis indications focus on individuals performing jobs typically reserved for a quirky lead in a romantic comedy. (Cinematic meet-cutes not pictured.)
The latest installment in the campaign began airing earlier this month, per iSpot.tv, and features a mobile pet groomer and a landscape designer with rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis, respectively.
It follows a spot that hit the small screen late last year and highlighted a hiker and an event planner, and another that debuted in early 2023 and starred a swim coach and a baker—all of whom have either moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis or psoriatic arthritis.
The newest iteration, like its predecessors, starts with each of the stars admitting that they’d told themselves they were “OK” with their arthritis symptoms, before declaring, “Just OK isn’t OK.”
As they’re each shown performing their hands-on jobs—with the pet groomer parking his business-on-wheels outside a home to give a dog a bath and the landscaper paving a new pathway in her own backyard—a voice-over notes that Rinvoq may help relieve symptoms like joint pain, stiffness, swelling and fatigue, prevent further joint damage and, in psoriatic arthritis, clear up skin, before offering up a list of potential side effects.
The commercial ends with the pet groomer advising viewers who are “done settling” to “take back what’s yours” by talking to their doctors about Rinvoq.
The three “Just Okay” ads are only the tip of the iceberg for AbbVie’s efforts to push Rinvoq. Its first arthritis-focused campaign for the JAK inhibitor in early 2020 took a similarly action-packed angle, roping in motorcycle riders, outdoor photographers, anglers and more to inspire viewers to “make it your mission” to fight the condition.
Meanwhile, after securing an FDA green light for Rinvoq’s use in treating atopic dermatitis, AbbVie stuck to the high-octane theme with a 2022 ad for the indication that Fierce Pharma Marketing described at the time as a cross between a ‘90s rave and an Air Force recruitment video.
That year, Rinvoq—which is also cleared in ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, ankylosing spondylitis and non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis—was responsible for drumming up the highest spending among pharmas on TV ads, with nearly $316 million, while another AbbVie offering, Skyrizi, took third place. A year later, for all of 2023, Skyrizi took the ad spending throne, while Rinvoq slipped to second place with a total of $351.1 million.
And AbbVie is holding steady atop the direct-to-consumer ad spending pile: Data from iSpot.tv show that the two drugs have remained at the top of the list so far this year, with Skyrizi securing the No. 1 spot in January and Rinvoq reclaiming the throne in February.