Funnyman Kenan Thompson is opening up about the not-so-funny experience of living with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).
In a new campaign for Phathom Pharmaceuticals’ GERD med Voquezna, Thompson—who takes Voquezna to ease heartburn caused by non-erosive GERD, according to the partnership announcement this week—speaks for the first time about his diagnosis to raise awareness of the disease and encourage people with GERD to consult a doctor about possible treatments.
The “GERD Is No Joke” campaign casts the “Saturday Night Live” star as a chef, serving up information about his experiences with GERD and Voquezna.
“This is the first time I’m sharing my story with GERD, and trust me—it’s no joke,” Thompson said in the announcement. “I’ve dealt with terrible burning in my chest, avoided some of my favorite foods, and even had my heartburn affect my voice and sleep, which is tough when your job is to make people laugh.”
He added that his doctor recommended Voquezna after several other treatments failed to ease his symptoms, “and it helped me kick some acid and reduce my heartburn”—referencing the wry catchphrase that Phathom introduced in its first DTC campaign for Voquezna last year.
Thompson will appear in his chef’s whites in a commercial set at a “Kick Some Acid Cooking Show.” Beginning this month, the ad will air across broadcast and connected TV, as well as on social media and in doctor’s office waiting rooms.
The campaign site features a four-minute video filmed on the set of the commercial, in which Thompson answers questions about living with GERD and treating it with Phathom’s med.
Visitors can also peruse “Kenan’s Guide to GERD,” a lighthearted document written in his comedic voice that encourages readers to use the classic improv technique of “yes, and” when talking to their doctors about GERD and available treatments.
The downloadable guide includes the fictional chef’s three-step “recipe” for those conversations, plus a checklist of possible symptoms to get the talk going—complete with ad-libs from Thompson adding context to each item, like “We’ve officially hit ‘way too much’” underneath one option for heartburn frequency.
Voquezna is billed as the first and only treatment approved by the FDA to relieve heartburn associated with non-erosive GERD and to treat erosive GERD, including by providing heartburn relief. It earned the erosive GERD approval in late 2023 and the non-erosive label expansion last summer.