The “Plenty of Syph” campaign, which broke June 2, is led by two 30-second TV spots that mimic late night ads for chat lines. In the male-focused spot, an attractive young woman seductively informs viewers “There’s something I want to share with you tonight. It’s free and easy to try. It’s syphilis.” Another spot featuring a young male begins “If you love to laugh, flirt and maybe more… and by ‘more’ I mean get infected with syphilis….”
Both spots direct viewers to the website PlentyOfSyph.com, where visitors are asked to specify their dating interest before being able to view a series of fake profiles – and in some cases watch videos – of people infected with the disease. When the profiles are opened, they present an outline of syphilis symptoms.
Calder Bateman’s creative director, Kevin Barclay, said the PlentyOfSyph website has attracted 54,000 visitors (47,000 uniques), some from as far away as Russia, since the campaign broke. About 15% of visitors are going to the site’s “learn more”
section, he said.
According to Alberta Health and Wellness, the province has seen a “significant increase” in cases of infectious syphilis since 2003, with 279 reported cases in 2009 –
an average of 7.7 cases per 100,000 population, versus 5.0 for Canada as a whole.
Barclay said the agency tried multiple creative approaches to the campaign – ranging from guerilla advertising to traditional mass media –
but that the Plenty of Syph approach was a unanimous winner in testing with the core 16-24 target audience.
“The target has pretty thick skin when it comes to marketing, and appreciate something that’s a bit more out of left field,” said Barclay. “That was the mindset when we were shooting ideas around.”
The campaign’s TV component is being supported by online banners featuring attractive male and female torsos that invite people to use their mouse to lift up the female’s top or unbutton the male’s shirt – revealing syphilis rashes and sores underneath. Small-space ads promoting PlentyOfSyph.com are also running in the province’
s alternative weeklies.
