Sutter Health's 'Never-Ending Ad' is one hospital-corridor take told by its own staff

Highlight Sutter's high-quality personal care and salute its workforce, using its own doctors, nurses and employees to tell the story.

Let the camera follow a doctor and nurses down a hospital hallway in one apparently endless take, so the spot feels like Sutter's never-ending care.

Directed by Jake Scott, the spots use one-take 'Goodfellas'-style cinematography in a hospital hallway, with one long-form ad, three 30-second and six 15-second executions. All speaking doctors, nurses and staff are actual employees, with scenes drawn from real patient stories, ending on 'It's a thousand things, big and small.'

No results are reported. The work launched on 28 September 2022 across broadcast, streaming VOD, audio, radio, social and OOH in Northern California.

LBBOnline reports that Sutter Health, a not-for-profit integrated healthcare system serving more than three million patients across Northern California, and its agency Barrett created the 'Never-Ending Ad Campaign'. Sutter's marketing vice president Jim Macksood says the people who can tell the story best are its own people.

The spots, directed by Jake Scott, use one-take cinematography in a hospital hallway and are designed to feel like one continuous shot. The camera tracks a doctor explaining that Sutter has won 21 awards from the American Heart Association, then switches to a nurse holding up a child's drawing to show high marks 'from our best patients, too'.

Some stories were inspired by real patients: two men discussing new hearts were based on patients who became friends waiting for transplants; a neonatal unit scene drew on preemies born up to 16 weeks early who are now kids; a mammogram technologist's family history of breast cancer led her into medicine. The original song is 'We Got Us' by Geographer, and the campaign line is 'It's a thousand things, big and small.'

A single continuous take mirrors the idea that care never stops.

Real employees and real patient stories give the film credibility that actors alone would not.

Short and long edits let the same corridor run across many channels.

When your people are the product, let them be the cast, and choose a film form that mirrors the service.

The campaign launched on 28 September 2022 across broadcast, streaming, audio, radio, social and out-of-home, with TV focused on sports, primetime and news in Northern California.