The archive · Advertising · Marketing decision · 2017–2018
Cochlear hides a hearing test inside a film with two endings
CHE Proximity made 'Does Love Last Forever?', a romance whose ending depends on how well you hear — so watching it is the test.
Cochlear
What it had to solve
Around 3.5 million Australians live with hearing loss, but 85% do nothing about it because denial is a strong subconscious barrier. Cochlear's goal was to get 50,000 people aged 55+ to test their hearing within 12 months and nurture them toward a consultation without making them feel confronted.
How it works
Around 3.5 million Australians live with hearing loss, yet 85% of them do nothing about it. Research showed a strong subconscious barrier: people in denial about their hearing avoid tests because admitting the problem feels like admitting age and decline. Cochlear's brief to CHE Proximity was to get 50,000 people aged 55+ to test their hearing within 12 months.
The agency's answer was 'Does Love Last Forever?', a short romance with two possible endings. For viewers who hear well, the couple's relationship stays loving; for viewers with hearing loss, the same dialogue sounds like the relationship deteriorating. Working with audiologists and sound engineers, the team analysed audiograms of patients with varying hearing loss and applied the findings to the script, direction and sound design so the second ending was faithful to what impaired hearing actually sounds like.
The film premiered in cinemas ahead of the feature Lion. Social-led teasers, content and digital display led the target audience to a microsite where they could watch the film — without knowing it was a disguised test — and were then prompted to take a full interactive hearing assessment. People who recognised a problem were invited to leave details for a free consultation.
In five months 110,000 people's hearing was tested, 8,558 went on to a deeper assessment, and the microsite drew 155,000 visitors averaging 14 minutes on page. The campaign generated 1,465 qualified leads and a reported 25:1 return, and the first person identified through it has since undergone surgery to receive a Cochlear implant.
Why it lands
- The audience self-selects: only the viewer's own ears reveal the second ending, so those who need the message meet it without being told they are the target.
- Framing the test as a shareable love story gave family members a reason to send the film to the person in denial — the campaign recruited the people who already cared.
- Disguising the test removed the shame of walking into a hearing clinic, which was the exact barrier the strategy existed to bypass.
- Building the second ending from real audiograms made the experience persuasive rather than symbolic: impaired viewers heard what they had been missing, not a caricature of it.
What it did
Within five months 110,000 people had their hearing tested and 8,558 took a further assessment; the microsite drew 155,000 visitors, and the campaign returned an estimated 25:1 on its A$235,000 budget. The first viewer identified by the film has since received a Cochlear implant.
What you can take
When denial is the barrier, make the diagnosis an experience rather than a warning: the audience confronts the problem simply by taking part, without ever having to admit it first.
Since then
The work collected awards across regions and years: a Gold Lotus at ADFEST 2018 (with a Direct Silver for the same idea), a 2017 Clio Health Silver, and Australia's 2019 Media Federation Award for Best Communications Strategy. Beyond the trophy trail, the case became a reference for health marketing that treats the consumer's defences as the problem to design around.
Sources
- Cochlear: Hearing Test in Disguise
- The Hearing Test in Disguise — Best Communications Strategy case study
- AdFest 2018 winners 1: A Grande Lotus each for CHE Proximity and Colenso
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