1 in 4 Brits (24%) never look back at the toilet bowl after doing a poo, despite it being a natural and free health tracker and a way of picking up the early signs of bowel cancer. In a bid to change this and get more people looking at, talking about, and tracking their poo, Andrex has launched a new campaign in partnership with Bowel Cancer UK to encourage the nation to look back and track — think less smart tech and more smart… poo.
Created by FCB London, ‘Look Back & Track’ is a cue to the nation, reminding them to look back at what’s in the toilet and on the paper, before they flush.
It comes as Andrex research reveals that 41% Brits track their health, with the average Brit owning at least one health tracker, most commonly a smart watch or phone app (19% for both). Top markers to track include heart rate (45%) and sleep (43%), yet only 15% of those who track their health monitor their bowel movements.
As part of the campaign, Andrex and FCB London have created a parody of the current obsession with smart rings by creating ‘The Really Smart Ring’, a special run of 20 solid silver rings handmade by Albert Zubaida, a Hatton Garden jeweler. The rings contain absolutely no tech, but are engraved with the message “Look Back & Track”. They will be gifted to influencers including Chessie King and Abraham Bunga, forming a central part of the social campaign to reach a younger demographic and help spread the word about why looking back and tracking is so important.
Niamh Finan, UK and Ireland marketing director at Kimberly-Clark commented, “Andrex is on a mission to break down the embarrassment barriers when it comes to the toilet and encourage the nation to ‘Get Comfortable’ with their bowel health. Partnering with Bowel Cancer UK, our joint mission is to change the narrative and tackle the stigma around point and drive earlier diagnosis by showing that looking back to track is the first step towards achieving this.”
“As a nation, we’re smart tracking obsessed, but people don’t realise that looking at their poo is one of the smartest things they can track — it’s a free daily health check,” said Kyle Harman-Turner, executive creative director and creative partner at FCB London. “Working in partnership with Bowel Cancer UK, we can help people to confront their embarrassment and get comfortable speaking to a GP about any bowel related concerns. Because the best natural health tracker is your daily drop off.”
The campaign builds on a three-year partnership between Andrex and Bowel Cancer UK and follows an Oasis-themed mural that was unveiled in Manchester last week. Dubbed ‘Roll with It’, the mural is designed to encourage Oasis fans, queuing for the band’s concerts in the city in August and who largely fall within the 35 to 54 demographic of people who “rarely or never look at their poo”, to do so more often to check for signs of bowel cancer. Other initiatives have included the printing of bowel cancer symptoms on the back of over 100m packs of Andrex toilet tissue a year.