As AstraZeneca kicks off the third year of its hockey-themed “Get Body Checked Against Cancer” campaign, the pharma has tapped two celebs known for their work both on and off the ice.
Actor Joshua Jackson, who got his start as hockey player Charlie Conway in the 1990s “Mighty Ducks” film series, and Gritty, the lovable orange rascal who serves as mascot to the Philadelphia Flyers NHL team, have both come aboard the campaign, AstraZeneca announced Tuesday.
The duo appear in a video in which Jackson dresses up as a doctor—referencing his fictional stint in the role on the short-lived “Doctor Odyssey”—and is joined by a cheesesteak-wielding Gritty to share the importance of regular cancer testing.
“Did you know people are getting diagnosed younger and younger?” Jackson says in the video. “If you watched me on your screens when I was a kid and you were a kid, then you should be talking to your doctor about which cancer screenings might be right for you.”
After the actor encourages viewers to visit the campaign website and “get body checked,” Gritty helps out by enthusiastically body checking Jackson.
(AstraZeneca)
In the announcement, AstraZeneca’s head of U.S. oncology, Mohit Manrao, pointed to data showing that close to two-thirds of Americans are behind on their recommended cancer screenings, while Gritty added: “There’s a lot of important checks out there—poke checks, paychecks, rain checks—but here’s a reality check … Get body checked. Checkmate.”
The “Get Body Checked Against Cancer” campaign first hit the ice in early 2024, part of AstraZeneca’s ongoing partnership with the “Hockey Fights Cancer” initiative from the NHL and NHL Players’ Association. Since then, the campaign has teamed up with multiple celebrities from the sports world, and AstraZeneca has donated more than $1 million to “Hockey Fights Cancer” for cancer research.
Jackson’s new awareness-raising role carries a particular weight for a certain subset of fans, as he’s probably best known for his role as Pacey in the turn-of-the-millennium teen drama “Dawson’s Creek,” and his costar on the show, James Van Der Beek, recently died after a battle with colorectal cancer.
Indeed, in an interview on the “Today” show Tuesday about the AstraZeneca partnership, Jackson pointed to his former costar’s experience as a factor in his deciding to join the initiative.
The diagnosis had inspired Van Der Beek to join a cancer testing push, too, with Guardant Health last summer.
