Creating Super Sick Monday allowed Mucinex to bring enjoyment to a particularly harsh cold and flu season. We brought a timely dash of levity to a category usually surrounded by misery.

All OTC Cold and Flu advertising is regulated by the FDA. Any claims made must adhere to the monograph established by this agency. All networks and media partners require substantiation for product claims and legal disclaimers where necessary.

We sought to turn an insight— more people take a “sick day” the day after the Super Bowl than any other day— into a cultural event.

To make that happen, we didn’t set out to win the Super Bowl ad game itself - we sought to own the day after.

To do this, we first gave the phenomenon a name; Super Sick Monday. Then we commissioned a research study to validate it. We used that to drive an earned media push to “plant the seed” for Super Sick Monday the week before the Super Bowl.

Then, on Sunday night, we aired a postgame commercial (substantially less expensive than an in-game ad) that was a playful wink to this phenomenon and gave Americans permission to enjoy their “sick day.” And, as millions of Americans did just that, Mucinex stood out in one of the most crowded media conversations of the year.

The early release of Super Sick Monday survey results and creative assets led to two feature stories in USA Today, which were syndicated nationally, and coverage continued to build. Leading up to the Super Bowl, we fueled social conversations by deploying content from comedic influencers, as well as NFL legend Terry Bradshaw, that highlighted humorous plans for Super Sick Monday.

Mucinex also leveraged Terry Bradshaw on Radio Row, the Super Bowl’s annual media spectacular where thousands of radio and TV stations, reporters and sports personalities broadcast live from the Super Bowl host city, bolstering media impressions by 34M.

On Monday, national morning shows gave a nod to this national “fake sick” day, attributing the moment to Mucinex’s research. More national print and digital media told the story of millions of Americans who were at home faking sickness while more influencer content showed how each influencer was spending their day off.

Media coverage and social media were so pervasive – with close to 1 billion impressions in just 5 days — that Mucinex’s Super Sick Monday was trending on LinkedIn (#2) and Twitter (#12); media personalities, brands, professional sports teams and thousands of others were furiously tweeting about #SuperSickMonday and the hashtag generated 60+ million impressions. Fans on social even created #SuperSickMonday original artwork and memes in honor of the day. News of Super Sick Monday even crossed the pond with a feature story in the UK’s Daily Mail.

In total, the campaign drove 2,520 placements with a reach of 948 million impressions.

- Generated 5X earned media impressions than initial target (150+ million)

- Tonality: 95% Positive or Neutral

- Exceeded initial outlined impressions goal (5 million) for Radio Row by 66%

- Research was key to coverage, with 75%+ of placements including our data

- Mucinex brand name was included in almost 25% of placements, a strong showing for a brand trying to enter into a Super Bowl-related conversation and cultural moment in time.

Double-digit growth on favorability metrics/equity attributes:

· Brand Love (+13.1%)

· Brand for Me (+13.7%)

· Purchase Intent (+13.4%)

Exceptionally high engagement among men, an audience harder for us to reach. We saw dramatic increases in:

· Brand Favorability (+22.3%)

· Brand Love (+20.9%)

· Brand for Me (+26.6%)

· Purchase Intent (+22.7%)

And Mucinex owned the day:

· Mr. Mucus’ rate of recognition hit 90% (+11.2%)

· Top-of-mind awareness almost doubled (+4.1 %)

A national Harris Poll, conducted by Mucinex, revealed that nearly 14 million Americans were likely to call out “sick” to work the day after the Super Bowl. This was the fuel that ignited national media coverage and conversation around Super Sick Monday.

A strategic partnership with a U.S. workplace think tank, The Workforce Institute at Kronos, provided credibility to establish Super Sick Monday as a legitimate cultural phenomenon.

And to reach Mucinex’s target audience, employed adults ages 25 to 54, the brand deployed a strategic early release of survey results, teaser and post-game commercials, as well as Mucinex “how to call out sick” kits days before the game, to capitalize on the mounting media frenzy and social conversation. The brand also ramped up media relations efforts, influencer and social media activities on the Monday after the Big Game to amplify America’s biggest fake “sick” day of the year.

Mucinex launched into the Cold and Flu medicine category in 2004. But with top-of-mind awareness stalled at 5% and a dominant competitor in owning the multi-symptom space, Mucinex needed to make a splash and find a meaningful role in people’s lives.

To do that, we had to engage with people differently from before. Which led us to an untapped insight — ironically, about faking illness: In America, more people call out “sick” the day after the Super Bowl than any other day of the year – but many are faking it.

Our objective: drive awareness and build brand love among a broader audience than we’d ever targeted.

Our approach: leverage the biggest national pop culture event during the peak of the cold and flu season: the Super Bowl.

Our challenge: Give Mucinex a voice in an event where no one expects to hear from a cold and flu medicine.