The Unexpected Hero

Client: Prostate Cancer UK

Every charity needs a clear point of view. Especially when the issue you’re facing is now the UK’s most diagnosed cancer. Prostate cancer also has no screening programme, unlike breast, lung or bowel cancer. We need action and we need change.

This is how we created a sharp point of view for Prostate Cancer UK. A disease which targets men disproportionately because of their age, ethnicity or family history. And frankly, the lack of evidence combined with the lack of government action and support is not F***** good enough. We needed to demonstrate urgency and relevancy to inspire change. So we showed men that they aren’t alone while the UK’s most diagnosed cancer quietly targets them. Our point of view? It’s About Time we stood together against it. Our hero is the person you’d least expect to talk about an intimate male cancer, an 11 year-old girl. But we did this for a specific, powerful reason … our children are unignorable. We launched with a film to disrupt ad breaks in sports programming full of macho characters promoting beer, gambling and pizza. Nikki, our 11 year-old girl, cut through as a unique, compelling voice. Since the campaign launched, spontaneous awareness has grown 109% and is at an all-time high. So is the ‘likelihood to support Prostate Cancer UK’ metric. This is the story of how a strong point of view, and an unexpected, unignorable hero can provide a halo effect on the actions a charity requires to be successful.