# The Walgreens Lesson Chiropractic Should Pay Attention To
The Walgreens Lesson Chiropractic Should Pay Attention To
Walgreens is currently running a CareCredit ad that ends with a very simple call to action:
Find an enrolled chiropractor near you.
That sentence matters more than I think most chiropractors realize.
The ad isn't trying to convince people that chiropractic is legitimate.
It isn't explaining subluxation.
It isn't comparing chiropractic to physical therapy.
It isn't defending the profession against medicine.
It isn't even really selling chiropractic.
It simply assumes that chiropractic care is something a normal healthcare consumer may want.
And then it removes one of the barriers standing between that person and getting care:
Money.
The message is basically:
Don't put off feeling better.
Get the care you want.
Pay for it over time.
Find a chiropractor near you.
That's it.
And I think there are two enormous lessons buried inside this little ad.
One is about the future of chiropractic.
The other is about how chiropractors should think about marketing.
First: This is good for chiropractic.
There is something incredibly powerful about a company like Walgreens putting a chiropractor into the normal healthcare decision-making ecosystem.
Not:
"Learn about this alternative treatment."
Not:
"Could chiropractic possibly help you?"
But:
Find a chiropractor near you.
There is a big difference between a profession constantly trying to prove that it belongs at the table…
…and the consumer simply assuming it belongs there.
That's normalization.
And chiropractic needs more of it.
For decades, a lot of chiropractic marketing has accidentally reinforced the idea that chiropractic sits outside mainstream healthcare.
We explain ourselves too much.
We fight too much.
We make patients learn our philosophy before they can understand our value.
Meanwhile Walgreens and CareCredit just show someone receiving care and say:
Want to feel better? Here's a way to pay for it.
That's a much more mature place for chiropractic to live.
And CareCredit is particularly interesting because financing solves a problem chiropractors encounter constantly.
Patients don't necessarily say:
"I don't believe chiropractic works."
Sometimes they're saying:
"I want this. I just don't know how I'm going to pay for it."
The CareCredit message attacks that friction directly.
And Walgreens lends its own credibility and distribution to the message.
That's where this gets really smart.
Walgreens isn't just running ads.
They're borrowing and combining trust.
Look through the rest of the ads Walgreens is running and you'll see the same pattern repeatedly.
Biofreeze doesn't just advertise Biofreeze.
It's:
Biofreeze at Walgreens.
The product gets Walgreens' distribution and credibility.
Walgreens gets another reason for the consumer to shop there.
Hallmark is doing it too.
Walgreens is running collaborative ads with creators promoting Hallmark cards available at Walgreens.
Think about what's actually happening there.
Hallmark has a product.
Walgreens has distribution.
The creator has attention.
Each party brings something to the table that the other one doesn't have.
And instead of everyone spending more money trying to independently recreate those assets…
They combine them.
That's fucking smart marketing.
And chiropractors with tiny marketing budgets should be paying very close attention.
You probably don't need a bigger ad budget.
You need more people helping distribute your message.
A chiropractic office might have $500 or $1,000 a month to spend on marketing.
Walgreens obviously operates in another universe.
So the immediate reaction is:
"Well, that's great for Walgreens. I can't do that."
Except you can.
You just can't do it nationally.
You can do it locally.
Every city has businesses that already possess the thing chiropractors constantly spend money trying to acquire:
Attention.
The gym already has 800 health-conscious people.
The golf course already has 1,500 golfers.
The CrossFit box already has 250 active adults.
The Pilates studio already has 300 women who care about movement and wellness.
The running club already has people dealing with knees, hips, feet and backs.
The local employer already has 200 employees.
The youth sports organization already has hundreds of families.
The massage therapist already has people paying cash to feel and move better.
The med spa already has consumers comfortable investing money in themselves.
The weight-loss clinic already has patients thinking about changing their health.
Those are audiences.
And most chiropractors walk right past them while complaining that Facebook leads cost too much.
Stop thinking "referral partner."
Think distribution partner.
This is where chiropractic tends to get lazy.
A chiropractor walks into a gym.
Drops off business cards.
Offers the owner a free adjustment.
Maybe gives them a stack of $49 exam certificates.
And calls it a "partnership."
That's not what Walgreens is doing.
The better question is:
What campaign could we create together that makes BOTH of our businesses more valuable to the same customer?
Now you're thinking differently.
Gym + chiropractor:
Train Hard. Recover Better.
Golf course + chiropractor:
Play Better. Move Better.
Employer + chiropractor:
Employee Recovery Week.
Running club + chiropractor:
Keep Running.
Pediatric chiropractor + lactation consultant:
New Mom Recovery Month.
Weight-loss clinic + chiropractor:
Move Better While You Lose.
The point isn't the slogan.
The point is the structure.
Two businesses.
Overlapping audiences.
Shared promotion.
Shared credibility.
Shared economics.
Instead of the chiropractor spending $2,000 finding those people from scratch, the partner already knows them.
That is how a small business starts punching above its weight.
There is another lesson here too.
Walgreens isn't marketing the mechanism.
They're marketing the desired life.
Look at the CareCredit creative.
They're not leading with interest rates.
They're not leading with payment terms.
They're not leading with the mechanics of healthcare financing.
They're leading with:
Relief you can feel.
CareCredit is merely the bridge.
This is something chiropractic desperately needs to understand.
Patients don't wake up wanting:
"Corrected biomechanics."
"Improved cervical lordosis."
"Reduced vertebral subluxation."
They want to pick their kid up.
Sleep through the night.
Play golf.
Work without headaches.
Train again.
Travel.
Garden.
Get on the floor with their grandkids.
Feel like themselves again.
The adjustment is the mechanism.
Their life is the product.
That is exactly what this advertising gets right.
And maybe that's the biggest lesson.
Chiropractors have spent years trying to figure out how to outspend the hospital.
Outspend the giant franchise.
Outspend the orthopedic group.
Outspend the big physical therapy chain.
You probably won't.
But you might not have to.
Because marketing isn't only about buying attention.
Sometimes it is about assembling attention.
One partner has the audience.
One partner has credibility.
One partner has the solution.
One partner removes the financial obstacle.
Put those pieces together and suddenly everyone gets more powerful.
That's essentially what Walgreens + CareCredit + chiropractic are doing here.
Three parties.
Three different assets.
One patient problem.
And a much stronger message than any of them could have created alone.
The chiropractors who understand that will stop asking:
"How do I get my Facebook leads cheaper?"
And start asking a much better question:
"Who already has the patients I want to reach—and what can we build together that makes both of us more valuable to them?"
That question can change an entire local marketing strategy.
And it doesn't require a Walgreens-sized budget.
It requires a Walgreens-sized way of thinking.
