Here's the Most Rockin' Blood Cancer PSA Ever

It's got a wild '80s puppet singing lead

Cell-therapy nonprofit NMDP rocks hard—with an ’80s MTV-style puppet singing lead—in this engaging PSA created with Tombras.

“Cancer will touch almost everyone at some point. It’s become so common that many people, especially younger audiences, tune it out,” says agency GCD Heather Thrash. “Breaking through that wall of awkward discomfort is how we save lives.”

Now, turn it up!

“Our goal was to meet people where they are—relaxing at home, watching TV or scrolling online, distracted—and make them stop for something that truly matters,” says Erica Jensen, SVP, strategy and advancement at NMDP. “This PSA does that with creativity, humor and heart—but also with purpose. Every new person who joins the registry could be the donor who saves a life.”

The relatable workplace setting and positive energy should resonate. The approach suggests that no one goes solo when battling health threats thanks to science and our fellow humans.

“The song had to work as a storytelling device, not background noise, so the lyrics themselves narrate the journey and tell the value NMDP provides,” Thrash tells Muse.

Those words are:

For blood cancer to go away
A blood stem cell transplant is the way.
Uniting for patients every day—
N-M-D-P!

What does that mean anyway?
N means New Members on our registry.
M’s for Matching donors to patients with blood disease.
D’s for Doctors making Discoveries.
P is for Patients living cancer-free.
N-M-D-P!

“We were most inspired by the infectious energy of the 80’s metal workout montage,” Thrash says. “We felt that energy encapsulates NMDP’s relentless mission to end blood disease.”

OK, but why make a spokes-puppet to tell the tale?

“We didn’t want this extremely important message lost in the white noise of constantly consuming content,” she says. “We needed something truly different. Something inventive and surprising. Definitely edgy. Even borderline unhinged.”

Ben Bayouth—who’s contributed to Comedy Central’s Blark and Son as well as Jim Henson’s Creature Shop—Challenge—designed the rollicking rocker.

Tombras collaborated with Bob Industries directors Spencer Susser and Daniel Campos on the project, which launches this week across various video platforms.