• by Les Luchter , Yesterday

To fight the growth of misinformation about ADHD, autism and other neurodivergent conditions -- which over the past couple of years has even been emanating from the federal government -- nonprofit Understood.org has launched the largest brand campaign in its 12-year-history. 

Titled “Less Noise, More Understood,” the campaign includes a :90 hero spot in which a mom and her daughter with ADHD are trailed throughout their day by three typical misinformation culprits who bombard them with false claims: a fellow parent, a social media influencer, and an AI agent. When mom finally opens Understood.org, everything calms down.

The campaign, running through December, is investing most heavily in paid social and connected TV, where paid placements will build on donated inventory, Nathan Friedman, Understood.org’s co-president and CMO, tells Marketing Daily. Other media includes online video, YouTube, rich media, and programmatic Spotify ads. There are also partnerships with sites where parents might search for information, such as Scary Mommy,

The director of the “Less Noise, More Understood” hero film has ADHD and the actress playing the daughter has both ADHD and dyslexia, which Friedman says is important because the “authenticity comes through.”

The campaign’s target audience is mainly moms of neurodivergent children, which represents a refocusing of Understood.org.

While the organization remains “focused on reshaping the world so every individual can thrive,” Friedman says, “we’ve realized that in today’s world, there’s no shortage of opinions, but in the end, the only people accountable for that child are the mom and dad, and usually it’s the mom.

“We really dived into that insight,” he explains. “Moms should not listen to random noise in their lives; they need to turn to a trusted resource to help them.

“It’s not just about having access to information, it’s about having access to information that is unbiased, research-backed, and in knowing who, what and when to trust an organization to give you that information.”

Friedman adds that “people are searching for neurodivergence around four times more than they did in 2021, " but confusion reigns. “Everyone is getting information from all different angles, wanted and unwanted. A lot if it is incorrect.”

He cites research showing that over 50% of TikTok videos about ADHD “are inaccurate or misleading. And around one in four caregivers regret health decisions they’ve made based on some of the conflicting information they’re seeing on social.”

And it’s not just social, he continues, elaborating on “what is emanating out of the current HHS and RFK about Tylenol, etc., down to what’s happening in the Department of Education.”

“Parents don’t know what to do because they don’t know what is actually fact,” Friedman elaborates. “We want our brand to meet the moment and really talk about one of the more unfortunate and less-talked-about sides of neurodivergence in these conversations, which is confusion.”

In addition to the ad campaign, Understood.org has launched a newsroom “that responds to breaking issues within five to 30 minutes,” and has also issued a call-to-action with the Clinton Global Initiative to combat misinformation.

Understood.org has worked with Stagwell’s Allison Worldwide and that agency’s Sidekick studio on its creative, with Good Apple for media buying, and with Ghost Note on its brand refresh, repositioning and new visuals.