Actors Octavia Spencer and Sofía Vergara will appear together in a Super Bowl LX commercial to raise awareness about kidney health, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease as part of the Detect the SOS campaign. The initiative, led by Boehringer Ingelheim with partners including the American Diabetes Association, the National Kidney Foundation, Mended Hearts, and WomenHeart, urges people with high blood pressure or type 2 diabetes to get screened for kidney damage using the urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (uACR) test.
Vergara described the Super Bowl spot as a chance to reach many people and make a difference. The campaign emphasizes that kidneys can give a ‘hidden signal’ of higher cardiovascular risk: albumin in the urine can indicate early kidney damage, and detecting elevated albumin through uACR testing can trigger interventions to slow chronic kidney disease progression and lower the risk of heart attack or stroke.
Charles Henderson, CEO of the American Diabetes Association, said educating people with diabetes about complications and needed screenings is central to the ADA’s mission. Cardiologist Andrew James Sauer, MD, noted that major clinical guidelines recommend routine uACR screening together with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) for people at increased risk of CKD—particularly those with hypertension or type 2 diabetes—so clinicians can start kidney-protective measures earlier.
The campaign is personal for both stars. Vergara said family members have high blood pressure, and after learning about uACR she encouraged her mother to be screened. Spencer, who lives with type 2 diabetes and hypertension, said learning about uACR testing made her nervous but motivated her to join the effort to inform others about kidney health.
Detect the SOS also targets persistent health disparities. The National Kidney Foundation reports that Black and Latino Americans are about four and 1.3 times more likely, respectively, to experience kidney failure than white Americans. Black people account for more than 35% of dialysis patients while representing roughly 13.5% of the U.S. population. Sauer pointed out that women of color often shoulder disproportionate burdens of diabetes, hypertension, CKD, and cardiovascular disease and face barriers—such as limited access to care, under-resourced services, affordability challenges, language and literacy gaps, and mistrust—that can delay early detection.
Spencer encouraged members of the Black community to ask their healthcare providers about heart and kidney risks and stressed that screening is simple for people with high blood pressure or type 2 diabetes. Vergara urged Hispanic and Latino communities to learn about available care, seek screenings, and communicate openly with clinicians, and she highlighted the importance of reducing stigma around health topics that affect aging, like menopause.
Both actors hope the Super Bowl commercial reaches broad audiences—especially Black, Latino, and other at-risk groups—and prompts conversations with healthcare providers about uACR and other screenings that can detect kidney damage early and help prevent serious cardiovascular events.