• by Les Luchter , Yesterday

BrightFocus Foundation, which has been advancing eye disease research for more than 50 years, has launched a PSA campaign with separate ads designed to Stop Glaucoma and Stop AMD (age-related macular degeneration) by raising awareness while encouraging regular eye exams for early detection.

The nonprofit cites a 2024 report from the Centers for Disease Control that just half of people at high risk for vision loss visit an eye doctor every year. In addition, as many as half of those with the two diseases may not even know they have them until permanent vision loss has already occurred.

The new campaign -- consisting of TV, radio and print ads created by RaffertyWeiss Media  in both English and Spanish -- centers around stories of people living with the  two diseases. Distribution is being handled by Connect360 Multimedia.

While glaucoma and AMD are leading causes of irreversible blindness among people aged 50 and older in the U.S., “our goal is to empower people -- no matter their age -- to make eye health a routine part of their overall wellness by getting regular eye exams,” Julia S. Roth, BrightFocus senior director of integrated marketing and communications, tells Marketing Daily.

That said, the English-language ads particularly “target adults ages 40-60 who may not be aware of AMD or glaucoma or know their risk,” Roth says, while “our Spanish-language spots speak to Hispanic individuals over age 40 who are at higher risk of vision diseases like glaucoma.”

Indeed, she points out, “Open-angle glaucoma is the leading cause of blindness among Hispanics over age 40.” One study found that 75% of Hispanics with glaucoma were unaware they had the disease, while “national surveys confirm that most Hispanic Americans do not know they are at increased risk.”

Blacks are also at higher risk of glaucoma -- at least four times as likely to have the condition as whites, BrightFocus notes.

AMD, meanwhile, is most common in non-Hispanic white adults, women, people over 60, and those with a family history.

Nearly 20 million U.S. adults have macular degeneration and over 4 million have glaucoma.

BrightFocus is not new to the PSA world, with Roth noting that its spots aired more than 66,000 times across TV and radio during the group’s last fiscal year (April 1, 2024-March 31, 2025). 

The new ads, she says, build on a previous campaign, titled “Make a Plan Today: Get Your Eyes Checked,” which launched 10 years ago but combined AMD and glaucoma in the same ads. Since then, “rates of these vision diseases have grown,” so the new PSAs are individualized, directing consumers to visit either brightfocus.org/StopAMD or brightfocus.org/StopGlaucomato learn more about risk factors, diagnosis, and get tips for healthy vision. There are also longer-form videos with each featured patient on those pages and on YouTube.

In addition to its vision PSAs, BrightFocus is also running English and Spanish PSAs for Alzheimer’s disease,  featuring the personal story of former New York Times journalist Phil Gutis.