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While many of us were sleeping in or headed to brunch on New Year’s Day, a handful of people were up at dawn to spread a health-focused message far and wide.

In Pasadena, California, a trio of advocates boarded a float.

Among the assembled were Dr. Anjay Rastogi, director of the CORE Kidney Program and professor and clinical chief of nephrology at the UCLA Health’s David Geffen School of Medicine; Pro Football Hall of Famer Brian Dawkins as well as a patient advocate named Thelma.

The three had come together to underscore the importance of kidney disease testing on a float constructed by Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) and Eli Lilly in collaboration with CORE Kidney for this year’s Tournament of Roses Parade. 

The ceremonial float marked the latest activation in the ongoing It Takes 2 campaign from BI and Lilly. 

While this was the first appearance for the drugmakers at the parade, CORE Kidney returned after its debut in 2024. 

Rastogi says the initial activation came about after a patient’s husband asked him why the organization didn’t have a float at the annual spectacle. 

“I thought that was an absurd idea; we’re a small program,” Rastogi says. “The Tournament of Roses, however, welcomed us with open arms and our sole purpose was to increase kidney health awareness.”

The cause is a critical one for the nation. Some 35 million American adults have kidney disease and yet less than 20% of those at risk receive blood and urine tests. Increasing testing rates, especially among underrepresented patient populations disproportionately impacted by the disease, is central to the mission of the It Takes 2 campaign. 

The Rose Parade offered an opportunity to reach 800,000 spectators who come to see the event in person, as well as upwards of 70 million viewers around the world who watch it via broadcast or streaming. 

The float — named “It’s in Your Hands: It Takes 2” — was constructed out of organic materials as is true of all the 38 other floats this year. 

Analyzing symbolism

As with so many physical installations at the heart of medical marketing activations, the float also included some elaborate and complex symbolism. 

The front of the float features a pair of cupped hands lifting a lotus out of the water while a hummingbird hovers overhead. 

Dan Guinipero, VP, US CRM asset and marketing lead at Boehringer Ingelheim, explains that the hands serve as a powerful reminder of self-advocacy: your health is in your hands. Meanwhile, the lotus and hummingbird represent the resilience and strength required from those living with kidney disease. 

Behind the lotus, he notes, are a pair of trees resembling kidneys frame a doctor and patient duo, underscoring the power of partnership — you and your doctor — when it comes to kidney health. 

A bridge at the back of the float connects to a gazebo, which represents the journey of all those who champion kidney health as a community.

Rastogi adds that there was hidden symbolism intentionally incorporated into the float.

“If you didn’t know the symbolism, you might just say, ‘Oh, it’s a beautiful float,’” he says. “But it represents the journey of the patient and the purpose of the float was to say, ‘Hey, you’re not alone.’”

While the float’s symbolism may have required some unpacking, the song that accompanied it as it traveled the parade route was familiar to the spectators in Pasadena. Blasting out of two oversized boom boxes on the float was an educational update of Rob Base’s 1988 classic “It Takes Two.” 

As part of the larger campaign, the lyrics have been rewritten to share the message that when it comes to assuring kidney health, it takes two—a physician and patient, as well as two tests, blood and urine. 

Thelma, a patient advocate who rode on the float, reflects on the difference that those two tests could have had on her life. 

She says she was 12-years-old when she first went to a doctor with concerns about swelling in her hands and feet. Thelma says she was dismissed by the physician and told to lose weight. 

“They never dug deeper, but if my mom had known about those two tests — the blood test and the urine test — and had asked for them for me, maybe it would have been different.” 

A decade later she was diagnosed with a rare kidney disease. If her kidney disease had been identified earlier, it’s possible its progression could have been slowed.

Having seen the parade on television as a child, Thelma was excited to be part of the event and promote such a personal cause. 

“It was such a pleasure to meet Brian Dawkins in person and we were so excited to get the word out. Come on. It’s a new year and a new you. Let’s get your kidneys checked. It’s in your hands, right?”