• by Les Luchter , May 22, 2024

Men have been dropping their knickers around London, thanks to separate campaigns from prostate cancer charity Prost8 and cybersecurity company Surfshark.

 In Prost8’s out-of-home campaign, viewers are drawn to prominently displayed bare bottoms. Yet, “A prostate check isn't what you think,” declares accompanying text. “It’s just a blood test taken from your arm.”

The confusion, of course, stems from that other type of prostate exam, in which the doctor inserts a gloved finger into the rectum to check prostate size. The blood test, on the other hand, checks for PSA (prostate-specific antigens) levels.

“There are misconceptions about the testing procedure, and many men are reluctant to undergo it,” explained Glenn Scholefield, copywriter at Omicom’s TWBA\MCR in Manchester, who developed the campaign pro bono with agency art director Tom Holmes.

“Every hour, a man succumbs to prostate cancer, with one life lost every 45 minutes,” Scholefield said in a statement. “Because of this, Tom and I decided to come up with an initiative to drive home the message to men that it's important and not painful to get tested.”

“It's evident that the campaign is really helping to challenge perceptions, spark discussions, and potentially save lives," added Paul Sayer, founder of Prost8.

Surfshark, meanwhile, put a man sitting on a toilet inside a see-through truck. The aim: to expose leaks…data leaks that is.

“Why are you sharing data but not this?” read signage on one side of the truck.  “How much are you willing to share?,” read the other side.

The mobile loo spent a day on the road, stopping for half-hour stays at such heavily trafficked areas as Tower Bridge, Canary Wharf and Soho.

A video was then posted explaining the stunt, which the Verve Agency helped organize.

“The idea behind the campaign is to create an analogy between overexposing yourself online and in real life,” the company said. “Globally, billions of unique user accounts have unwittingly had their information disseminated beyond their control due to leaks.”

While Surfshark doesn’t expect to run the traveling toilet stunt again, the brand told Marketing Daily that otherprivacy-focused campaigns are planned for both London and New York.

Surfshark offers cybersecurity services through VPN (virtual private networks).