August 3, 2026
Welcome to The Monthly Muse, where we unpack celebrity and influencer engagement in healthcare. Last month, we talked about how “unscripted” sports partnerships can drive health impact. This month, we look at consumer brands that found clever ways to shine during big cultural moments and the lessons they offer for healthcare.
The Shift
Like millions, I watched New York’s beloved Knicks win hearts, minds and the NBA Championship. Then, just days later, World Cup fever took America (and the globe) by storm. I’ve been impressed at how some brands have flipped the traditional sponsor script, leveraging creativity and agility to break through and become part of the cultural zeitgeist.
Consider Pepsi’s “WE OUTSIDE” campaign that used real Knicks fans, rather than the athletes, as creative assets. The campaign captured images of fan reactions in the moment — celebration, shock and pride (all with a Pepsi in hand) — resulting in powerful, unfiltered moments of joy. This visual imagery expertly told the story of Knicks fandom on billboards placed across some of New York’s most iconic locations.
Anyone who watches soccer knows that FIFA is notoriously strict about its World Cup sponsorship rules: NFL stadiums were rebranded to city names, and corporate logos were covered up. Levi’s Stadium became San Francisco Bay Area stadium, yet Levi’s refused to let their brand equity be erased. Rather than covering up their logo with a shapeless tarp, Levi’s shrink-wrapped their “batwing” logo — ensuring its iconic silhouette remained recognizable. Simultaneously, the company leaned into the moment on social media with a similar profile picture that sparked media headlines.
In both examples, these brands demonstrated the power of visual storytelling — tears of joy captured the most memorable comeback in NBA history, and a carefully wrapped logo was a cheeky reminder of World Cup mania. These passionate visuals reinforced the appeal of shared experiences in a fragmented world, creating unifying, emotional moments. According to Penske Media Corporation research, 77% of respondents said that pop culture experiences provide lifelong memories; 72% said the experiences offer an escape from the ordinary.
The Musing
As someone who loves to flip the script, I couldn’t help but wonder … Can healthcare companies also find clever, compliant ways to shine during iconic cultural moments, especially with tentpoles like the 2028 Summer Olympics coming up?
The answer is a resounding yes! Consider this: When Amgen, based in Thousand Oaks, Calif., served as an official host city supporter for the L.A. World Cup matches, they amplified their sponsorship creatively and compliantly, building powerful connections to sports fans and beyond. From supporting community revitalization efforts ahead of the tournament and sharing health information at fan events to sponsoring free youth soccer clinics and recognizing more than two dozen local nonprofits that use the sport to drive change, Amgen focused on creating lasting community relationships that transcended broad awareness.
The Takeaways
- Tailor Your Approach: The most successful campaigns move the needle by finding the exact intersection of consumer segmentation and a major pop culture tentpole. Rather than deploying broad, generic campaigns, leverage consumer data to identify specific, untapped audience needs. Align these insights with cultural moments to establish an authentic brand connection.
- Evaluate big cultural milestones as opportunities to advance your corporate narrative in unique ways. Pharmaceutical companies looking to insert themselves into the L.A. Olympics could align with a former Olympian who has a connection to a specific disease state, then create and execute initiatives to support community needs. They could time appearances and social content with those key moments before, during and after the games.
- A solid example comes from Eli Lilly’s partnership with WNBA player Caitlyn Clark. Leaning into their shared Indiana roots, the effort not only ties into Eli Lilly’s corporate narrative promoting exercise as preventative medicine but also lends itself to on-the-ground activations to drive awareness for early breast cancer screening.
- Reduce Friction: Operating in heavily regulated industries like healthcare is a strategic reality, but compliance parameters should not handcuff creative execution. Rather than treating medical, legal and regulatory (MLR) review as the final hurdle, bring these partners into the creative process at concept inception. When teams have ownership of strategic vision, they are far more likely to champion the work.
- Plan for Agility: Executing in concert with cultural milestones requires endless planning and refining, but the secret to success is allowing for a bit of agility. Communicate clearly and often with key stakeholders. Understand who the final decision makers are, who needs to be informed and who needs to be part of reviews.
- Prioritize Visual Storytelling: Bold colors, strong, representative brand imagery and an unforgettable logo should also tell your brand story. As pop culture moments happen, consider reflecting them through your visual storytelling to build intrigue and alignment.
By Christina Fuschetto, Group Senior Vice President at MUSE, GCI Health’s celebrity and influencer offering. Christina has a decade of experience creating impactful celebrity campaigns for the pharmaceutical sector.