Cannes Contenders: TBWA\New Zealand
How will New Zealand perform at Cannes this year? In the lead up to the Festival, Campaign Brief will be showcasing the work we hope will impress the judges…
TBWA\New Zealand
What’s the best way to prevent Cancer? Give it to someone we all know and love. Bowel cancer kills more New Zealanders than breast and prostate cancers combined. But Kiwis are too embarrassed to discuss it. TBWA found that people who have had loved ones go through it do talk about it, openly. So TBWA found someone all Kiwis love and gave him this aggressive cancer. Teaming up with the writers and producers of New Zealand’s #1 Soap Opera, Shortland St, TBWA turned health education into light entertainment. Over the course of six weeks, Damo Johnson, went through all the phases of bowel cancer, from embarrassing symptoms, to fear of making a doctor’s appointment, to examination, colonoscopy, diagnosis, writing a will, surgery, survival and recovery. Throughout the story-line, all of the important information regarding early testing and detection was imparted by different characters as part of their natural dialogue. Over a six week period, 350 000 Kiwis a night sat through a masterclass in bowel cancer education. All done with a zero dollar media and production budget.