HR wanted to remind their female employees to schedule a mammogram. The free exam is the most effective way to diagnose breast cancer and can drastically increase the chances of survival in the case of an early diagnosis. However, to actually get the busy working women to make the appointment proved a big challenge -especially since most women see the self-exam as sufficient.

Instead of a regular day-to-day email, we decided to make a one minute video featuring the women from the office. It captured the audience’s attention immediately with humor and ended on a serious note delivering the message for mammogram awareness and a call to action.

What started as an internal email became a worldwide internet hit, reaching over 500,000 people -that´s 7,000 times more than was originally intended. Also, 45% of the women in the office scheduled their mammograms as a result of watching the video.

A one minute video featuring the women from the office was made and attached to the email. The video was sent to all employees on February 22 2010, which coincided with Women’s Week in Brazil. It quickly got uploaded by the employees to YouTube where it got 500,000+ hits in just 2 weeks. The video is still running and has been featured on blogs and a few TV shows.

The video got over half a million views on YouTube, dominated web trends and blogs, and even got air time on French and English TV shows (Culture Pub and Channel4 respectively). It became one of the most buzzed about non-profit videos of the year in Brazil, reaching 7,000 times more people than originally intended. Most importantly, of the 77 over 40’s female employees at Ogilvy Brazil, 34 scheduled their mammogram exam as a result of watching the video.