Not All Heroes Wear Spandex - Some Give Blood!

The NHS urgently needed more blood donors to come forward meet hospital needs, with the number of new donors signing up dropping significantly between January-May 2024. However, due to other pressing personal and social issues hitting the media headlines and distracting the nation, we needed to find a new way to make blood appeals cut through and generate the necessary groundswell of public support.

Our insight work revealed our audience are avid superhero fans, and as donating blood is the most superhero-esque thing someone can do in real life, we saw a super opportunity. The summer of 2024 would see the long-awaited return of one the Marvel Multiverse’s most iconic antiheroes, with an inherent link to blood, but for a very different reason. Deadpool is the most prolific blood spiller on the planet. But what if we could recruit him to help us encourage people to help people donate it instead? NHSBT partnered with Disney, harnessing the voices behind the iconic superheroes Deadpool and Wolverine to inspire everyday superheroes across the country. The campaign helped drive a heroic increase in blood donations QoQ, and proved that not all heroes wear capes, spandex, or have adamantium claws – some give blood!