While testicular cancer is the most common form of cancer in young men in Canada, it’s also the most treatable if caught early. In fact, guys have a 97% chance of survival if testicular cancer is caught sooner than later. Healthcare in Canada is also free, so there really isn’t an excuse. To shed light on the issue and make guys more comfortable talking about their balls, we used humour in a jaunty manner that would appeal to a younger demographic. Enter the #LetsTalkBalls campaign where we created a dynamic testicle duo to get the conversation started, bantering about the fact that they are constantly ignored and taken for granted, as well as provide health advice to guys on how to check their testicles in targeted spaces.

One of the videos was launched on PornHub, which the adult site kindly donated ad space for. In this spot, the testicle duo comments on the weird porn their owner is watching. We also placed video content in men’s washrooms in select bars and restaurants that appealed to a younger demographic. In this spot, the testicle duo comments on the viewer’s privates, urging them to check their balls at least once a month.

The campaign is currently running during Testicular Cancer Awareness month in April 2018 across Toronto. The campaign can be seen online, on social and ambient. We also created a balls ribbon mnemonic that lives in button form that can be found in bars across Toronto.

Since we were working with a very limited budget, we decided to push the little funds we had towards promotion on Facebook and Twitter with the use of their Ads platforms. Unfortunately, our promotion was blocked by the Ads moderators.

Despite appealing to the Ads teams, we were denied. In their own words, our ad campaign “wasn't approved because it doesn't follow [their] advertising policies by featuring an image containing excessive amounts of skin or suggestive content… even if portrayed for artistic or educational reasons.” This is a part of the problem. There is a shame associated with getting checked for Testicular Cancer, hence no dialogue about the issue. Our promotional block just exemplifies this issue.

Despite lack of support, we’ve garnered just under 200,000 organic views on our campaign videos. Compared to the mere 4,648 followers that Testicular Cancer Canada’s social pages has, this is a huge feat.