• by Les Luchter , July 26, 2023

Celebrity-endorsed colonoscopies are back in the spotlight.

More than a decade after “The Late Show with David Letterman” announcer Alan Kalter kicked off a recurring “CBS Cares Colonoscopy Sweepstakes,” followed by such celebs as colon cancer survivor Sharon Osbourne and her husband Ozzie, actor Ryan Reynolds’ creative agency Maximum Effort has taken up the mantle in a campaign titled “Lead from Behind,” launched in September.

The latest video from Maximum Effort and the Colorectal Cancer Alliance features actor/former NFL star Terry Crews, and was created in partnership with Crews’ production company Super Serious.

This nearly 5-minute video, titled “Inside President Camacho,” features Crews reprising his role as the dimwitted -- some would say prophetic -- U.S. President Camacho, who was first seen in Mike Judge’s 2006 movie satire, “Idiocracy.”

The video details Camacho’s fictional visit to get a colonoscopy, complete with images of three polyps the doctor supposedly removes (it's not clear if they come from the the real-life Crews).

Crews/Camacho also notes the particular need for Black Americans to get screened for colon cancer. According to the Colorectal Cancer Alliance, Blacks are 35% more likely to die from colon cancer and 20% more likely to develop it than non-Hispanic whites.

Fortunately, the actual colonoscopy -- not to mention the prep process that many find much worse than the actual procedure -- is not shown in the Crews video.

Cameras also avoid the operating rooms in the nearly seven-minute video in which Reynolds and fellow actor Rob McElhenney both undergo actual colonoscopies. That video, in which the doctor removes one polyp from Reynolds and three from McElhenney, has now been viewed more than 1.2 million times.

Reynolds notes that creating awareness for a procedure that saves lives is “enough motivation for me to let you in on a camera being shoved up my ass.”

A major difference between the two videos: While both stress the need for screening to detect and prevent colon cancer, the first one only suggests colonoscopies for that purpose. The new one also touts at-home tests, specifically citing the heavily advertised Cologuard (“I did it my way”).

The Colorectal Cancer Alliance has received funding from Exact Sciences, the maker of Cologuard, which is listed as one of the nonprofit’s sponsors, along with others like pharma companies Amgen, Bayer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Genentech, Merck and Pfizer

The Centers for Disease Control havs estimated that 68% of colon cancer deaths could be prevented if all eligible people were screened. It’s recommended that such screenings start at age 45.