• by Les Luchter , 8 hours ago

In 1957, an animated popcorn box, drink cup and other food items strutted in “Let’s All Go to the Lobby,” a now-classic in-theater spot from Filmack Studios, directed by Dave Fleischer of Popeye and Betty Boop fame.

Alas, Fleischer, who worked on hundreds of cartoons during his decades-long career, never got to anthropomorphize a pair of human testicles.  

For that phenomenon, we turn 69 years later to a “Let’s All Go to the Lobby”-inspired video series from the Testicular Cancer Foundation (TCF) created by IPG Health’s Neon and animation /production studio MAKE.

Moving beyond Neon/TCF’s previous exercise in nostalgic film -- an infomercial-like appeal for its Stressticles self-exam kit last fall -- the new four-part video series, titled “Billy Ballz vs. Testicular Cancer,” stars Ballz, perhaps best described as a cheerful, walking pair of blue balls.

In episode one, posted in late April on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, Ballz spends his time talking about and showing how viewers wouldn’t put up with imperfect pairs of items like shoes, glasses and cherries, so why should “your dynamic duo” -- testicles -- be any different?  “If something feels off, tell your doctor,” Ballz says. Episode two and episode three, posted the past two Mondays, focusing on the eyeglass and cherries analogies, have a similar theme. All three episodes (and a shoes-focused one debuting May 18) end by suggesting that viewers order a Stressticles kit to “take the stress out of testicular cancer.

Back in November, when 1,000 Stressticles kits were produced to coincide with Men’s Health Awareness Month, Neon’s group creative director Kevin Williams told Marketing Daily that more of the product, priced at $9.99 each, would be produced depending on response to the initial offering.

“Stressticles remains available for purchase,” Williams says six months later, “and we are planning to continue selling the product. While the initial batch of 1,000 kits has not yet sold out, we’re encouraged by the positive response and are committed to making Stressticles accessible for the foreseeable future.” 

Once constructed, the do-it-yourself Stressticles kit provides users with a faux set of scrotum and testicles -- one cancer-free, one with an early-stage tumor. Then, per this instructional video, “the only thing left to do is give your balls a squeeze…You'll learn what to feel for during your testicular self- exam.”

“Billy Ballz vs. Testicular Cancer” is being marketed largely through earned media and hoped-for social media sharing.