Veritas Communications has launched a custom line of sweatpants to raise funds for cancer research, in honour of Nicola Moore, the agency’s former chief strategist who passed away from cervical cancer in December 2015.
The agency partnered with sweatpants brand Lazypants on the line, and created its own cheeky slogans: “We got balls” (men) and “Think outside the box” (women). Anyone can purchase the limited-edition pants at Veritasinc.com/lazypants.
“The genesis around it was: what can we do to put our PR skills into action in a way that allows us to give back as an agency and allows us to literally wear a badge of honour,” said Krista Webster, president of Veritas Communications. “We wanted to do it in a way that’s going to create interest and awareness, in a bit of a cheeky and creative way, and in a way that I think Nicola would have gotten a kick out of.”
Veritas’s goal is to raise $10,000 to support both cervical and testicular cancer research, with proceeds going to Canadian Cancer Society and Movember. Veritas’s website notes that an estimated 1,100 Canadian men will be diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2016, and roughly 1,500 women will be diagnosed with cervical cancer.
Webster said Veritas has been doing a lot of work around HPV-related cervical cancer with its client Ministry of Health. So, the Lazypants initiative “felt really timely in terms of the importance of starting to educate [people about] cervical cancer, which is highly curable if you diagnose it early,” she said. “We also didn’t want to diminish the importance of supporting men… and while Movember is known for prostrate cancer, they also support testicular cancer.”
Veritas held an open house last Friday with media and influencers who are helping to spread the world about the Lazypants line. On social media, the pants are being promoted with the hashtag #VCforCancer.
