Testicular Cancer Canada is asking men to check themselves for testicular cancer by placing their testicles on their smartphones.
When consumers visit the mobile-only TesticleCheck.ca, they’re asked to place their testicles on the screen. Once the screen is touched, though, an error message pops up: “Are you nuts? There’s no such thing as a mobile testicle scan. You’ve got to check them yourself,” it reads.
The faux-app is part of the organization’s latest campaign, launched Thursday in conjunction with Testicular Cancer Awareness month. The campaign also includes a radio spot and two TV spots based on the same premise.
Randy Stein, partner at Grip Ltd, the organization’s creative agency, explained that “young men are used to everything being done for them by girlfriends, wives, mothers, and teachers, [but] there’s one thing that they have to do themselves: check their testicles.”
In one TV spot (above), a cop pulls over a car. After asking the young male driver for his license, he reaches down and feels his testicles. In another, a mechanic tells a young man about his car’s brake pads, coolant and tire pressure. At the end of his check list he says, “Oh, and testicles,” and, like the cop, reaches down and check’s the man’s testicles for lumps.
Trevor Gourley, a copywriter at Grip who worked on the campaign, said the agency chose to use this style of bodily humour in the campaign to connect with the young male demographic most commonly affected by testicular cancer.
“It might surprise some people to learn that testicular cancer is the most common cancer in men ages 15 – 29,” Gourley said. “These are the same guys binge Netflix-ing Family Guy, South Park, Archer – we know that if we want even a chance of breaking through to this demo, we’ve got to disrupt them with something they’re going to want to watch and share.”
Speaking about the faux-app, Gourley said he thinks it drives home the campaign message while maintaining its humour. “We thought it was a great extension of the campaign idea, that no one’s going to check your testicles for you. There are no shortcuts – you’ve got to make the time each month to check yourself,” he said.
The campaign was made pro bono by Grip, with additional work by Sons and Daughters, Saints Editorial, Pirate Toronto, The Juggernaut and Alter Ego. It also marks Grip’s first spot for Testicular Cancer Canada. It started working with the organization in January.
MediaCom handled the media buy in partnership with Bell GlobeMedia. Grip expects the spots to run on male-skewing properties on channels like MuchMusic, Comedy and Space.
