Akron Children's Hospital "Nick"

“I compare chemo to ’80s music. It’s nasty.” So says a 15-year-old named Nick in this spot for Akron Children’s Hospital (by Marcus Thomas of Cleveland), and he’s earned his opinion. Hospitals often use advertising to tell us how patient-centered they are. That’s better than letting us think the hospital regards patients as a regrettable inconvenience (which we may suspect is the prevailing attitude), but it’s a too-small step in the right direction. The thing is, who wants to think of himself as a patient? The affable Nick is presented here as a person who happens to be a cancer patient, and this helps us feel the hospital treats its clientele accordingly.