Taboo
× American Cancer Society
A cause-based campaign built around a Grammy-winner’s personal fight with cancer — that reached national television.
Taboo (Black Eyed Peas)
American Cancer Society
2017
Creative Director · Campaign Strategist
Campaign Strategy · Creative Direction · Live Performance
A personal story, made public
When Taboo went public with his cancer diagnosis, most people saw a health story. I saw a brand moment — one that could define who he was outside the Black Eyed Peas more powerfully than any solo record.
The American Cancer Society partnership wasn’t a celebrity endorsement play. It was the vehicle to show what he stood for. His diagnosis wasn’t a PR strategy — it was the truth. The campaign was built to honor that.
I developed the creative concept for the ACS campaign, anchoring it in Taboo’s lived experience rather than his celebrity. The difference between a cause campaign and a celebrity endorsement is authenticity — one is PR, the other is identity. This was identity.
The campaign was designed to extend Taboo’s brand equity into advocacy — positioning him as more than a performer, and giving the ACS a face with genuine personal stakes in the cause.
I directed the live performance of “The Fight” — produced specifically for the campaign. The performance aired on ABC’s The Doctors. National audience. A Grammy-winning artist performing a song about his own cancer diagnosis.
That’s not a typical brand activation. That’s what happens when the campaign is built from a real story instead of a brief.
Taboo (Black Eyed Peas)
American Cancer Society
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