For COPD brands, it's not uncommon to hear a version of "They got what they asked for" in market research. After all, 90% of people with the condition are smokers. And smoking is a choice, but it's not always one to stop. CNN reported that nicotine is one of the 5 most addictive substances in the world. And WHO estimates 1.3 billion current or former smokers. Most likely, that includes someone you love.

Yet smokers often get inadequate care, because of judgement. Why? It SEEMS avoidable. In the UK, 7,800 COPD-related deaths could be avoided "if best practice was applied". Meaning, they likely didn't get the best care. So, the Truth Well Told for our brief was "Judgement Kills".

As a branded treatment, Trixeo's attributes don't mean much if judgement blocks urgency or consideration. Our objective: call judgement out before it happens. So doctors judge the therapy, not the smoker.

The direction takes a voyeuristic approach: peeking in on moments so personal (for both the judged AND the judgement-maker) it feels as though you are seeing something you shouldn't. To create this intimacy, we used only "real people", not experienced actors, throughout the film.

The outcome: a rawness that's often hidden or denied, but real. But what you don't see is, when the couple kissed (for example) two separate drivers shouted slurs at them before speeding off. The direction successfully takes what happens outside the lens - as well as in our performers' past experiences - to fuel the authenticity in their performances. The same could be said of our COPD patient's true-to-life narration.

"Authenticity" is often mentioned, yet hard to truly achieve, in scripted work. Almost never in whitewashed branded pharma ads. The documentary-esque direction allows it to be felt vs watched. Because you've lived a version of it.

The impact of Judgy was its ability to strike a visceral, deeply human chord. It reveals a truth that's hard to deny, leading to reflection. One person said, "It would be disingenuous to say I don't see think 'smoker' when I see these patients. In my mind, they've been irresponsible with their health, and that [factors into] the kind of treatment I prescribe. I'm not defending it, I just haven't thought about it much until now."

Judgy polarized viewers, sparking conversation. Not everyone loved the themes, feeling certain moments were not appropriate for medical communications. Many more embraced seeing underrepresented people, moments and hard truths. "We're all judgy," one responded. "Sometimes we have to be reminded of our biases to change them."

Other pieces "sold" Trixeo. The role of this film was to make people agree that judging others is not compassionate. Judge the therapy. Trixeo can stand that test.