Healthcare charity Prostate Cancer UK is encouraging men to be rigorous in getting checked, as the risk of dying from the disease decreases significantly with an early diagnosis.
Developed in partnership with London agency VCCP, ‘A future full of good things’ centres around a pair of surreal spots that see a talking baby and ceramic grill from two men’s respective futures explaining the importance of getting checked so that they can stick around for longer.
The charity’s films are informed by the alarming statistic that across their lifetime, approximately one in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, with this figure doubling for Black men.
Crucially, both films dispel the widely-held notion that the only way to get checked is a rather uncomfortable finger up the rear, instead guiding men to an online risk assessment and blood test.
“A talking BBQ and a grandchild from the future might not be what you expect from a charity raising awareness of cancer risk, but we’re driven to grab men’s attention across the UK with this vital message, and we’re starting at one of the biggest events in the summer of sport with a spot in the FA Cup Final,” said Prostate Cancer UK director of communications, John Dickinson-Lilley.
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“We want all men at risk, so that’s men over 50, Black men and men with a family history of prostate cancer, to take just 30 seconds to check their risk online with Prostate Cancer UK’s Risk Checker.
“It’ll tell you if you’re at higher risk, and let you know what you can choose to do about it. With finding prostate cancer, earlier is always better, so it’s about time you checked your risk.”
Directed by Gary Freedman, the films feature film star Ralph Ineson voicing the grill and Top Boy star Jasmine Jobson as the unborn baby, whilst has been enlisted as narrator.
With media planning and buying led by the7Stars, the films will break this weekend during the FA Cup final, with the campaign running across TV, broadcaster video-on-demand, linear radio, digital audio and social media through to 30 June.
VCCP London ECD, Jim Thornton added: “As that wise young owl Darren Bailes (our CCO) once observed; ‘we spend the first half of our lives trying to kill ourselves and the second half desperately trying to stay alive’.
“This beautiful, and beautifully realised, idea neatly brings to life exactly why those of us of a certain age are so desperate to stay alive – the promise of grandchildren, fabulous BBQs, more Stoke games and all the other wonderful things later life has to offer.
“And it deftly hammers home the message to all the men in our lives that it really is about time they checked their risk of prostate cancer.”
