NewYork-Presbyterian Wins Bronze Lion at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2025 for Sickle Cell Ball Campaign
The awareness campaign and social activation was honored in the Health and Wellness category for shining a global spotlight on the chronic condition that disproportionally impacts Black and Hispanic Americans.
NewYork-Presbyterian has won a Bronze Lion at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2025 in the Health and Wellness category for its Sickle Cell Ball Campaign. The campaign raised awareness about sickle cell disease, a chronic condition that affects more than 100,000 people in the U.S., predominantly impacting Black and Hispanic Americans.
The campaign featured a special-edition basketball designed by NewYork-Presbyterian Dalio Center for Health Justice, in collaboration with the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Wilson Sporting Goods, with a single crescent-shaped red panel representing a sickle cell set against minimalist black panels. The balls were distributed to patients, doctors, pro sports leagues, and basketball influencers who helped spread awareness by encouraging the public to film a trick-shot using the hashtag #IBall4SickleCell. The interactive social campaign generated nearly 300 million impressions. The ball was also featured in NBA 2K25 video game. At the campaign site, sicklecellball.com, people could learn more about the disease and the experiences of those who live with it and support funding for research and advances in treatment.
“It’s an honor to be recognized by Cannes Lions for the Sickle Cell Ball campaign,” says Devika Mathrani, senior vice president and chief marketing and communications officer of NewYork-Presbyterian. “Our goal was to find creative and engaging ways to shine a spotlight on a condition that deserves more attention. The Bronze Lion is a testament to the dedication and effort of so many team members, our agency partners and, most importantly, those who work tirelessly every day to fight this disease.”
The Health and Wellness Lions featured more than 1,100 entries from all around the world. According to Cannes Lions, the winners “deliver creative, impactful and original solutions that push boundaries and elevate the standard in Health & Wellness communications.”
Sickle cell disease is a group of genetic blood disorders that affects 20 million people worldwide. While healthy blood cells are round and move smoothly through the body, sickle cells have a crescent shape, which causes them to get stuck in blood vessels. This can have a severe, long-term impact on health that may start as early as infancy.
“We hope people with sickle cell disease across the country feel seen and heard and that we have helped shed light on a disease that has long been overlooked,” says Dr. Julia Iyasere, senior vice president and executive director of the NewYork-Presbyterian Dalio Center for Health Justice. “We know there is more we need to do as a healthcare community, more we must do. We’re honored to be recognized for spreading the message about sickle cell disease and committed to continuing the work to advance new treatments and research.”
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