Needles put a lot of people off acupuncture. New research for the first Acupuncture Awareness Week found 38% are deterred by needle phobia and 55% doubt it treats any condition, despite 2.3 million treatments a year and a serious adverse reaction risk of under 1 in 1,000. For the British Acupuncture Council, we built a broadcast PR campaign to explain how acupuncture works and clear up the misconceptions, putting a TV presenter who used acupuncture alongside IVF on air with her acupuncturist across a radio day of interviews. The campaign secured 19 items of radio coverage reaching 2.6 million people, including BBC Radio Merseyside, BBC Radio Kent and BBC Radio Norfolk.
British Acupuncture Council, Acupuncture Awareness Week
The aim
British Acupuncture Council wanted to raise awareness of the council, explain how acupuncture works and dispel common misconceptions during Acupuncture Awareness Week.
The message
The British Acupuncture Council is the leading self-regulatory body for traditional acupuncture in the UK. It promotes evidence-based research on the benefits of acupuncture and maintains the highest professional standards of practice.
The angle
New research for the first Acupuncture Awareness Week found 38% of people are put off by needle phobia and 55% doubt acupuncture treats any condition, despite 2.3 million treatments a year and a serious adverse reaction risk of under 1 in 1,000.
On air
A TV presenter who used acupuncture alongside IVF, and her acupuncturist
The result
19 items of coverage reaching 2.6 million, including BBC Radio Merseyside, BBC Radio Kent and BBC Radio Norfolk.
More campaigns for British Acupuncture Council
British Acupuncture Council has come back to Relations Group for other broadcast PR campaigns:
An annual week run by the British Acupuncture Council, the UK professional body for traditional acupuncturists. It aims to raise public and GP awareness of acupuncture, the conditions it is used for and the training standards of registered practitioners. Stations plan their coverage of it in advance, which makes it a strong hook for a broadcast PR campaign.
Planning Acupuncture Awareness Week for 2026?
Acupuncture Awareness Week next runs from 10 to 16 November 2026, ending on World Acupuncture Day (16 November). Talk to the team about a broadcast PR campaign that gets your spokesperson on radio and TV.
