Abbott

Project: Voodoo Dolls

Creating a visibly brighter future 

Diabetic retinopathy (DR), or diabetes-related blindness, is one of the most devastating complications of diabetes. It is also one of the most ignored. In Mexico, 91% of doctors were aware of DR, but 75% weren’t managing it. 

01The Challenge

Internal medicine doctors treat the bulk of diabetes patients, but consider Diabetic Retinopathy (DR), or diabetes-related blindness, to be an ophthalmologist’s problem. The result? A disjointed treatment journey that impedes early, holistic diabetes care.

02The Solution

Enter Lipanthyl®, a daily pill that can delay DR progression. We broke through the noise of doctors’ demanding schedules by reframing the narrative and making Lipanthyl® unforgettable. By promoting alternative treatment: injection in the eye. We created Lucio, a doll inspired by traditional Mexican puppets, and invited doctors during face-to-face in-clinic visits to perform an eye injection, the procedure used in late-stage care. Using children’s play slime, we gave Lucio’s eyeball the perfect, unsettling texture to make penetrating Lucio’s eye with a needle feel authentic and unforgettable. By turning a routine sales visit into a hands-on, emotionally charged experience, we transformed a distant complication into an immediate reality.

03The Impact

To date, Lucio has met with over 100 doctors, convincing them to act earlier and slow DR’s progression – with 90% of the doctors surveyed stating intent to prescribe Lipanthyl® and leading to a notable increase in patients treated in Mexico. The initiative started expanding to other cities in April 2026 and plans are being discussed for structured visits to selected hospitals and training centres to engage the next generation of doctors. Turns out sticking needles into Voodoo dolls work after all.

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