This Alzheimer’s Day, we revisit a landmark campaign

23 September 2024

We’re revisiting a landmark campaign we developed for the Alzheimer’s Disease Society back in the 90’s. One of the communications we produced was a book entitled, “Thanks for the Memory: Your Guide to Memory and How It Works”.

It invited readers to reflect on the extraordinary role memory plays in our lives and aimed to explain how it worked, and how to look after it. We built in an Alzheimer’s yellow ribbon bookmark which was knotted – a constant, subtle memory-jogger.

Our hero images featured a range of handkerchiefs tied into various knot formations to bring dynamism and impact to the “don’t forget” concept; a question mark-shaped hankie to ask, “What is Memory?”, a DNA-strand inspired knot to communicate, “Memory and The Brain.” Each was set against vibrant backgrounds of yellow, red and blue to echo the colours of MRI brain scans.

Later sections of the book explained in medical terms the visible impact of Alzheimer’s disease by juxtaposing healthy brain images with those of an Alzheimer’s-affected brain. This was made possible by thanks to recent cutting-edge MRI scans revealing ‘black holes’ or gaps in the brain. These arresting visuals emphasised the urgent need for more research funding and intervention on the disease, which was minimal at the time.

Whilst significant progress has been made since the 90s, much remains to be done, especially given the disease’s rising prevalence with an ageing population. We applaud The Alzheimer’s Society for continuing to bring the voices of those affected into the spotlight.