Though psoriasis affects people of all skin tones, that diversity isn’t always represented in portrayals of the condition in clinical studies, commercials, textbooks and beyond.
“The research suggests that something like 93% of people in psoriasis TV commercials are white, despite the high prevalence of the disease in Black and Hispanic populations,” Mohamed Issa, vice president of dermatology and rheumatology marketing at Johnson & Johnson, told Fierce Pharma Marketing in an interview, adding, “This leaves these experiences grossly underrepresented.”
Meanwhile, he said, “only 14% of participants in phase 3 studies [for psoriasis] are people of color,” and fewer than 20% of images in dermatology textbooks show the condition on darker skin.
J&J is taking action against that underrepresentation. For one, it began in 2022 a study of its biologic drug Tremfya that Issa described as “a first-of-its-kind clinical trial that is dedicated to people of color that are living with plaque psoriasis and scalp psoriasis, with the sole intent to address these gaps in representation.” So far, as he noted, the VISIBLE study has proven Tremfya’s safety, efficacy and durability in treating psoriasis across all skin tones.
Now, J&J is leveraging “many vehicles” to get the word out about those results, Issa said. Not only will it publish “a pretty vast library of images from the study” to educate healthcare providers and patients about how psoriasis can present across skin tones, but the company has also launched a new Tremfya marketing campaign steeped in the study’s results, complete with a new TV commercial that skewers the lack of representation in other psoriasis drug ads.
The 45-second commercial starts off looking a lot like those other ads, as a group of cheerful people—all seemingly with already-clear skin—play volleyball on a beach, with the camera focusing mainly on a white woman as the star. The camera quickly zooms out, however, to reveal the real star of this commercial: the fake commercial’s director, a woman of color who’s shown attempting to cover up her visible psoriasis while blocking out the scene.
Amid the plot twist, a voice-over says, “You know what you don’t see in psoriasis commercials? The thousands of real people who go undiagnosed—people whose psoriasis can look very different depending on their skin tone.”
To that end, as Issa noted in the interview, data suggest that “people of color with psoriasis wait three times as long to receive advanced treatment, and they’re close to 70% less likely to be prescribed a biologic therapy compared to white patients.”
Later on in the ad, the director is shown visiting a dermatologist’s office, where she looks through a Tremfya-branded book of images with her doctor and walks the same halls as several other psoriasis patients with a range of skin tones, and the voice-over continues, “As the makers of Tremfya, we understand that everybody’s moderate to severe plaque psoriasis doesn’t look the same, so we undertook a first-of-its-kind study of plaque psoriasis in every skin tone.”
In making the commercial, Issa said, “we leveraged the insights uncovered through the study and really brought to life some of the challenges and the complexities that people of color face with psoriasis.”
And, while the ad homes in specifically on people of color with psoriasis, Issa said the campaign’s target audience comprises “all patients living with psoriasis, irrespective of their skin tone.”
“These ads are educational in many respects, and a call to action for patients,” he said. “There’s a reason why we as companies invest in this type of vehicle, and I think the lack of representation in these commercials has consequences, which may include things like lack of general attention to the disease, people maybe not appreciating that they could be living with the disease or even the fact that new and novel therapies may be right for them.”
With that in mind, J&J is attempting to reach people who aren’t typically represented in psoriasis-related imagery without excluding anyone else—that is, “in a way that’s extraordinarily inclusive,” Issa said.
“Here at Johnson & Johnson and Tremfya, we think we’re setting a new standard in inclusive marketing with the launch of this commercial spot,” he said. “We think it’s the first-ever dedicated branded pharmaceutical psoriasis commercial that blends culturally competent care with product information to advance psoriasis care for all patients.”
Issa reiterated that focus on reaching all psoriasis patients while discussing the campaign’s overarching goal: to increase people of all skin tones’ access to effective treatments for the condition by touting Tremfya’s bona fides.
“This is interesting, because I think originally the conversation may be perceived as darker skin tones or skin of color,” he said. “But, in reality, by actually showing this this way, we think it actually puts all patients with psoriasis on the path to an accurate diagnosis and having informed conversations with their healthcare providers.”
He added, “If nothing else, if this ad does just that—enables patients to have an informed conversation with their healthcare provider so they can get the support and care they deserve—then I think we’ve met our goal here.”