Alzheimer’s Association and Willy Wonka create poignant ad

With an ad that tugs at the heartstrings, American not-for-profit Alzheimer’s Association features the late actor Gene Wilder in his most famous role in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory – with a twist.

In the 90-second ad, the colourful sweets and confectionary pieces disappear slowly as Wilder sings “Pure Imagination” to show that the disease “can steal your imagination piece by piece”. With an appeal to the audience for help with text reading “imagine how we could end it”, the colour returns. 

The ad takes on even more poignancy as Wilder died from Alzheimer’s in 2016.