BRITISH HEART

FOUNDATION AND ITV

Heart attacks can happen on any street

By stopping TV’s most iconic tune in its tracks, we made the nation stop, listen and donate.

Gail Platt’s on-screen heart attack became more than a plot twist: it became a powerful public health message. By turning Coronation Street’s emotional finale into a moment of life-saving awareness, we proved heart research saves lives, driving a 56% surge in donations and 305 pieces of press coverage.

A little background

Cardiovascular disease is the UK's biggest killer, claiming a life every three minutes. Yet no-one thinks it's going to happen to them – until it does.

The British Heart Foundation faces a constant challenge: competing with charities that feel more urgent (disaster response) or more ever-present (cancer research). Every media pound needs to make a disproportionate impact drive the vital funding that powers life-saving research.

When ITV shared with PHD that Coronation Street's beloved Gail Platt would suffer a heart attack in her final storyline, we saw an unmissable opportunity to turn mainstream entertainment into a powerful public health message.

Our insight

Heart attacks don't just happen to other people – they happen to everyday people, just like Gail.

With millions emotionally invested in Gail's story, we had the perfect context to deliver a vital truth: people like Gail survive because of rapid, life-saving treatments made possible by decades of British Heart Foundation research.

The big idea

We would make TV history by 'flatlining' the most famous end credits on British TV, turning Corrie’s iconic theme tune into a powerful metaphor.

As Gail's final scene ended, we'd interrupt the credits by cutting the beloved theme tune with the stark flatline of a heart monitor, proving that Gail's story could have ended very differently.

Making it happen

As the episode closed on Gail's final scene, the music stopped mid-flow. The flatline of a heart monitor cut through the iconic music, with a moment to stop viewers in their tracks.

Next, the heart monitor sound flowed seamlessly into a co-branded message, with former Corrie star and BHF ambassador Kimberley Hart- Simpson providing authentic emotional weight.

The message was clear: Gail's survival was only possible thanks to heart research funding. The project demanded unprecedented collaboration, as we pulled all promotional activity around the episode to preserve the surprise. Even regular sponsor Argos dropped their usual ident to allow seamless transition into the ad break.

From sign-off to on-air, we had only four days to deliver. Working with Coronation Street producers, BHF's bespoke flatline audio was stitched directly into the master episode edit - a technical first.

The credits aired on Sunday 27th October to 2.5 million viewers. Social media immediately erupted as viewers tried to process what they'd witnessed:

"The credit scene scared the shit out of me but good advertising wow #corrie."

Reactive content ran across BHF and Corrie channels, and heart disease became a national talking point on Lorraine, This Morning, and in news outlets from The Mirror to The Independent.

The results

BHF searches increased 44% post-transmission, and the campaign drove real fundraising success: website donations around broadcast increased 7%, resulting in a 56% revenue boost. This led to a 16% increase in monthly donations for October and 22% increase in one-off donation revenue.

8.3% more viewers watched through the entire credits versus the previous week.

Most impressively, the flatlining credits generated 305 pieces of press coverage which drove 115 million impressions – delivering a PR ROI of almost £3 for every £1 spent.

“This campaign perfectly demonstrated how the

right partnership at the right moment can

amplify a charity's message beyond anything we

could have achieved alone. By connecting Gail's

story to the reality of heart disease, we reached

millions with a message that could save lives."

Clare Sadler, CMO, British Heart Foundation