During The Official Anti Breast Cancer Month, we were asked to create a campaign that would raise awareness about the dangers of the disease, encouraging people to go for a breast exam.

The problem is breast Cancer is not a pleasant subject, it is heavy and boring, which causes people to avoid every communication about it. But, by avoiding the subject, they also end up avoiding the preventive exam.

Here is what we did to overcome this: in São Paulo, outdoor advertising is prohibited. Therefore, graffiti really stands out. So, we scoured the city for graffiti containing female figures and hijacked the drawings by creating paste up posters simulating the effect of a mastectomy. This way, the art became outdoor media for our message.

We reached major media channels in Brazil and publications around the globe.

To get it even further, we developed press kits for some of Brazil's biggest graffiti artists, inviting them to be a part of the project.

We also sent the kits to some artists from other countries that wanted to participate.

By doing this, we brought influencers to the campaign. This helped get people discuss our subject, making breast cancer seem less like a monster. In the end, we reached +1.8 million people per day on the streets, gathered +5.500.000 online impressions (an equivalent of over R$ 600.000 in online earned media) and generated a +45% increase in breast exams carried out at the A.C.Camargo Cancer Center, compared to the same period last year.

Our goal was to raise awareness about the dangers of the disease and, by doing that, increase the number of people taking the breast exam.

Our target was women in São Paulo. Especially young women, who think this problem is something that only happens to older people. Since A.C.Camargo is the only Cancer Centre in Brazil, our target knows the hospital and also trusts it.

In order to get to the idea, we researched all communication about breast cancer in Brazil from the last 5 years. And found out that most of it is on television and also very serious.

The idea reached major media channels in Brazil and publications around the globe. The buzz also reached some of Brazil's biggest graffiti stars who offered to be a part of the project. After that, artists from other countries started to get involved and took the idea to a global level. London and Buenos Aires have already joined us.

In the end, we reached more than 1.8 million people per day on the streets, and achieved more than 5.500.000 online impressions (an equivalent of R$ 600.000 in online earned media). But, most importantly, generated a +45% increase in breast exams on A.C.Camargo Cancer Center, compared to the same period last year.

At the beginning of October we began scouring the city for graffiti containing female figures and hijacking the drawings.

Then, at the middle of October, we released an online video of the Campaign, to spread the idea even further. This video reached media and TV channels in Brazil and also online publications and social media worldwide.

After that, we prepared press kits for the campaign and sent them to some of Brazil’s biggest graffiti stars. Many of them liked the idea and got in touch, asking to be a part of the project.

After that we received requests from artists around the globe. So, we created a website where people could download the PDF file of the campaign tagline in different languages and execute the idea in their own cities. This made the idea became global, being executed in more than 10 different countries.

A.C.Camargo Cancer Center is one of the most important Cancer Treating Hospitals in Latin America. And every October they create communications talking about Breast Cancer.

But, the problem is: breast Cancer is not a pleasant subject. It almost seems like there is no good way of talking about it. It always seems too heavy or boring, which causes people to avoid every communication about it. But, by avoiding the subject they also end up avoiding the preventive exam.

So, we needed an idea that would overcome this.

Our strategy was to talk about the subject in a more light-hearted and fun way. And to do that, we took advantage of one of São Paulo’s most prominent artistic features: graffiti.

Graffiti gave us the youthful tone necessary to talk about a touchy subject. And also gave us the opportunity to impact people in the middle of their daily routines, therefore, we could surprise them.

And, since in São Paulo, outdoor advertising is prohibited, using the graffiti as we did, also allowed us to avoid this rule and really stand out on the streets.