One in 8 men will get prostate cancer, and for Black men their risk is double. But the earlier you find prostate cancer, the easier it is to treat, and an earlier diagnosis could save your life. That’s the vital message at the heart of a new integrated campaign from Prostate Cancer UK and VCCP London, with a call for thousands more men across the country to check their risk online.

The creative platform, “A future full of good things,” focuses on the future–the life full of really good things that lies ahead for men (and those who love them) if they check their risk and find out what they can choose to do about it, and forms part of Prostate Cancer UK’s wider campaign “Find it Earlier.”

This breaks the mold of traditional cancer awareness campaigns, which have focused on the negatives of not knowing your risk and all the scary things that can happen when you don’t. Instead this approach looks to capture men’s imagination and hope for the future they want to be around to see. This strategy allows for a humorous take, which runs through the campaign, to open up the conversation and lighten a serious issue for many.’

Two films directed by Gary Freedman of MJZ lead the campaign, including this one titled “Layla” in which a man meets his granddaughter-to-be who promises him the chance to get to know her if he looks after himself. VCCP’s global content creation studio Girl&Bear worked with Freedman and MJZ on the two-spot package which also ensures men that a test for prostate cancer doesn’t mean a finger up the bum. Only a simple blood test is necessary which you can get free of charge from your doctor.

The campaign will run across the UK–with TV, social and PR working to reach men at risk throughout the country. 

Jim Thornton, executive creative director at VCCP London, said: “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 realized, 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.”

Credits

Client Prostate Cancer UK Agency VCCP London Jim Thornton, executive creative director; George Lewis, Andy Parsons, Pip Bishop, Chris Hodgkiss, idea; Pip Bishop, copywriter; Chris Hodgkiss, art director; Carly Parris, TV producer; Emma Winton, creative producer. Production MJZ Gary Freedman, director; Daniel Gay, producer Lindsay Turnham, managing director; Lucy Jones, head of production; Spike Elwood, production manager; Barry Ackroyd, DP; Benji Edwards, first assistant director; Kate Mcconnell, art director; Niamh Coulter, set decorator; Rebecca Rich, wardrobe/stylist; Bianca Simone Scott, makeup artist. Editorial The Assembly Rooms Adam Spivey, editor; Phoebe Armstrong Beaver, edit producer. Postproduction ETC Vic Lovejoy, post exec producer; Simon French, VFX supervisor; Luke Morrison, colorist; Tane Welham, lead compositor; Chris Fraser, Theo Mall, compositors; Ryley King, coordinator. Audio King Lear Jack Sedgwick, sound designer.

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