World MS Day by film

World MS Day has always used film to raise awareness about MS. We’ve gone back to the archives to find you seven of the best World MS Day videos. It’s time for a cinematic throwback.

Beautiful day – 2009

An all-time favourite, this video was created for the very first World MS Day back in 2009. We got special permission from the band U2 to use the track ‘Beautiful Day’. In memory of this moment, we performed ‘Beautiful Day’ with the Global MS Choir in 2021. This video is a World MS Day go-to, it’s reshared by the MS community every year. We could not think of a better start to the global campaign.

Work in Progress- 2011

How do you manage MS in the workplace? The 2011 World MS Day video looked at easy adjustments employers could make to support colleagues with MS. The animation stars seemingly friendly and hard-working eggs, but the message is no yolk. The video shows that small, low cost changes to your workplace can enable people with MS to stay in work for longer.

Independence – 2016

The World MS Day theme for 2016 was independence, we looked at different ways people with MS can be independent and how this varies from person to person. We created several videos of people with MS sharing what independence means to them. For Marcia, a big part of being independent is being able to learn new skills. Watch this video to see how Marcia pursued further education after being diagnosed with MS.

Sharing tips for life with MS – 2017

The 2017 World MS Day theme was ‘Life with MS’, focusing on quality of life. People shared tips for living well with MS in the 2017 campaign video. These words of wisdom were shared right across the world. The video encouraged people with MS to share their learnings, mantras and everyday solutions.

MS Treatments -2018

World MS Day 2018 was all about research #bringinguscloser to better treatments for MS. The campaign video put MS treatments in the spotlight, looking at how new treatments are developed over time. This animation looks at different phases of development, from discovery to clinical trials and regulatory approval.

My invisible MS – 2019

‘Invisible symptoms are not usually things that we hear about or talk about’.

In 2019 the ‘My Invisible MS’ campaign raised awareness of invisible symptoms and the unseen impact of MS. We asked people around the world to tell us about their invisible symptoms. Watch this video to hear from Giulia, Diego, Michela, Ivan, Geetha and Alla.

I Connect, We Connect – 2020

The ‘I Connect, We Connect’ video kick-started the MS Connections campaign back in 2020. We asked people from around the world to share their experiences of MS, loneliness and connection. Seetharam, Eva, Georges, Eliana and Soo shared their stories with us in this powerful animation. We worked closely with our animators ARC studio, to bring these stories to life. Each of the animated characters were drawn from real-life photos of the five contributors.

The video was nominated as the 2020 ‘Best Campaign Video’ for the Drum Social Purpose Awards, a prestigious platform celebrating the best international campaigns each year. You can learn more about the project here.

We hope you enjoyed this look back at World MS Day through film. Why not check out our latest campaign video for World MS Day 2022?