The film tells the story of a family impacted by the disease and shares the importance of checking to make sure that children are vaccinated against all strains.
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The modern media landscape is incredibly fragmented. Traditional advertising methods are struggling to capture the attention of audiences that more media options than ever before. The days of airing commercials in between segments of movies and TV shows seem to be long gone.
GSK announced a partnership with Lifetime, a TV network that features content targeted towards women. Lifetime is popular for its original movies, which typically feature stories that resonate with female audiences. Through this partnership, GSK and Lifetime have developed an original movie that tells the story of a family hit by meningitis.
Pretty Hurts stars Haylie Duff as the mother of a teenage girl who is competing in a beauty pageant when the family is impacted by meningitis. According to a press release from GSK, the film is designed to educate parents about how their children may not have the meningitis B vaccine.
The film is associated with GSK’s Ask2BSure campaign, which also focuses on the vaccination issue. Actress Alyson Hannigan is a celebrity spokesperson for the campaign.
In a press release, Hannigan said, “As a mom, I know how hard it can be to stay on top of everything, especially when it comes to my teen’s health, and it is so important to ask the right questions about meningitis risk and vaccination. I’m proud to have joined the Ask2BSure campaign so that I can empower other parents to speak up and ask their teen’s doctor for more information.”
In the same press release, GSK’s US medical affairs lead for Neisseria vaccines Cynthia Burman said, “Working with Lifetime on this longer-form creative and educational film allows us to deliver impactful content to help empower parents in the US to start the conversation with their teen’s doctor to find out if their teen is missing any meningococcal vaccinations.”
Pretty Hurts debuts on Lifetime on June 28, 2025 and will be available on Lifetime’s streaming platform the following day.
In April of this year, GSK announced that its 5-1 meningococcal vaccine Penmeny received a positive recommendation from the US Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.2
In a press release issued at the time, GSK’s chief scientific officer Tony Wood said, “We welcome this positive recommendation that can help strengthen disease prevention efforts in the US. Pentavalent vaccines can reduce the number of injections required to help protect against invasive meningococcal disease – especially disease caused by serogroup B. Their use could improve immunization rates among adolescents and young adults in the US, who are at an age with increased risk.”
In February of this year, GSK announced that the same vaccine was approved by FDA to be used as protection for the A, B, C, W, Y and strains of meningitis.3
In a press release issued at the time, Wood said, “We are excited about the opportunities ahead to help improve meningococcal vaccination coverage in the United States, especially for IMD caused by serogroup B. Building on our global leadership in meningococcal vaccination and our longstanding commitment to address unmet need in disease prevention, we aim to help protect more teens and young adults at a life stage when they are at an increased risk.”
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