AbbVie re-ups glaucoma awareness campaign with NFL star Miller

AbbVie's Allergan business has once again drafted Super Bowl MVP—and Dancing with the Stars celebrity—Von Miller to feature in their latest glaucoma awareness campaign.

The campaign, "My Glaucoma, My Design," asks people to visit its Facebook page and submit photos and stories about how they manage the disease for themselves or a loved one. Miller will choose his favorite stories to share on his own social media pages, as well as on AbbVie and Allergan's social media feeds. The winners will also receive personalized video messages from Miller.

Miller was part of last year's My Glaucoma campaign, starring in a video where he discussed his childhood vision loss and urged viewers to take early action on glaucoma. The new effort launched earlier this month on World Sight Day and encourages people to talk to their doctors about designing a glaucoma management plan.

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While most people think of glaucoma as an older person’s disease, it affects people in their 40s and 50s as well. That's one of the key messages Allergan wants to get across and why they tapped Miller as spokesperson.

“Von has such a great following, from being a professional football player to also being on 'Dancing with the Stars'—he really covers the gamut of the younger population and an older demographic, and that's why he was also just a natural fit for us,” Matthew Bolton, Allergan's executive director of glaucoma therapies, said.

Miller does not have glaucoma, but suffered vision problems as a child. His eponymous Von's Vision Foundation helps low-income kids in Denver get the eye care they need.

Allergan glaucoma therapies include Lumigan, Combigan and Alphagan.

RELATED: Allergan drives home the seriousness of glaucoma with latest awareness campaign

Like many other marketing efforts, the COVID-19 pandemic affected the way this campaign played out. While meetings with Miller and the patients typically would be held in person, Miller recorded his parts and people submitted their own stories.

“The team found a way to do it where everyone could be safe. We can still keep the momentum going with this initiative and still get those stories out there," Bolton said.