The archive · Advertising · Marketing decision · 2023
Gustave Roussy's 'A True Story' film reveals Santa had cancer and recovered
A five-minute Christmas film for French cancer centre Gustave Roussy told the true story that Santa once had cancer - and donations rose.
Institut Gustave Roussy
What it had to solve
Institut Gustave Roussy, a French cancer centre, went into the Christmas season needing a campaign that would increase donations while sparking conversation about the great progress made in the fight against cancer. Publicis France built the answer on an unknown but true fact: nobody knew it, but Santa Claus once had cancer - and he recovered.
How it works
Institut Gustave Roussy is a French cancer centre facing the classic Christmas charity problem: the season when donations are requested is also when illness stories trade on fear. The campaign needed to increase donations while starting a different conversation - about the great progress that has been made in the fight against cancer.
The creative answer was an unknown but true fact dressed as a Christmas tale: nobody knew it, but Santa Claus once had cancer, and he recovered. Fiction and reality intentionally intertwine in the film, so the beloved myth and the institution's real work become one story of survival.
The result was a five-minute short film broadcast on TV, cinema and online, produced by Prodigious for the Publicis France campaign. Putting a face everyone trusts on the survivor's side of the story made cancer progress feel personal rather than statistical.
The D&AD entry records what the campaign was credited with: sparking conversation about progress against cancer and helping to increase donations for Gustave Roussy during the holiday season. The work now sits in D&AD's awards archive as a Christmas tale told to raise money for cancer care.
Why it lands
- The twist gives a charity film a plot: instead of asking for sympathy, it reveals an unknown fact about a universally loved figure and lets audiences rediscover cancer survival through him.
- Anchoring the story in real progress makes the ask about the future of treatment rather than fear, which gives donors a stronger reason to give.
- Blurring fiction and reality on purpose means the fairy tale carries the institution's truth: if Santa recovered, the claim that cancer can be beaten feels demonstrated, not asserted.
- Broadcasting across TV, cinema and online put a five-minute story where Christmas audiences actually watch, turning a medical appeal into seasonal entertainment.
What it did
The D&AD entry credits the film with sparking conversation about the great progress made against cancer and helping to increase donations for Gustave Roussy during the holiday season. The work was kept in D&AD's awards archive with credits for Publicis France and Prodigious.
What you can take
A charity can ask with hope instead of pity: turning a beloved myth into a survivorship story makes cancer progress concrete and gives donors a reason their gift matters.
Since then
The D&AD awards archive remains the public record of the campaign, listing Institut Gustave Roussy as brand and client, Publicis France as agency and Prodigious as production company. The reported outcomes - conversation about cancer progress and increased holiday donations - are the campaign's stated effects; the page documents no independent figures.
Sources
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