McCann Santiago Uses Popular Graffiti to Show How to Detect Testicular Tumours

In Chile, around 100 men over 20 years old die annually from testicular cancer, a disease that occurs mainly in young people between 25 and 45 years of age. However, if there was greater awareness of how to self-assess, this figure could decrease significantly, since 95% of cases have a good prognosis and full recovery if detection is at an early stage.

In the public space of all cities, including restrooms, there are countless graffiti that refer to the male members which have disruptive messages. But to exploit and give them a new meaning Graffitesti by McCann Santiago emerged for the National Cancer Institute, an idea that aims to enhance the task of the entity that works to educate and generate greater awareness of this disease in the population.

The campaign uses penises drawn in the city that now serve to save lives through hundreds of hand stickers arranged on top with information that teaches how to perform a testicular palpation test, illustrating three Simple self-examination steps: Touch, Repeat, Check. In a second stage, a filter was added so that anyone can use it on Instagram and incorporate it to the drawing of this type that they find, after the success of the account that hosts the initiative, @graffitesti, which obtained more than 250,000 visits just 48 hours from its launch.

Felipe Abufhele, creative director of the agency, states that: “we wanted to collaborate in a different way with this important cause. We seek to lower the number of deaths, delivering a disruptive message that helps to raise awareness about the early detection of this deadly disease."

For the director of the National Cancer Institute, Dr. Berta Cerda, this has been quite a hit. “We are very grateful for the work generated in this campaign because it has revealed a disease that has no visibility when compared to everything that moves breast cancer, for example. It is very important the message to be youthful and original so that no more men with advanced cancer arrive and we can recover his health and fully integrate him into normal life after treating this oncological pathology”.

Graffitesti, self-examination available to everyone, is available on social networks via @graffitesti, on the website and now everywhere in the city.