| Title | GAME OF BALLS |
| Brand | BLUE BALL FOUNDATION |
| Product / Service | TESTICULAR CANCER AWARENESS |
| Category | B01. Use of Digital Marketing |
| Entrant | M&C SAATCHI Sydney, AUSTRALIA |
| Entrant Company | M&C SAATCHI Sydney, AUSTRALIA |
| Advertising Agency | M&C SAATCHI Sydney, AUSTRALIA |
| PR Agency | BANG PR Sydney, AUSTRALIA |
| Name | Company | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Ben Welsh | M&C Saatchi | Executive Creative Director |
| Ant Melder | M&C Saatchi | Creative Director |
| Josh Bryer | M&C Saatchi | Writer |
| David Jackson | M&C Saatchi | Art Director |
| Annalise Brown | Bang PR | Managing Director |
| Peta Frost | Bang PR | Account Manager |
| Zoe Finlayson | Bang PR | Account Executive |
| Matt Porter | M&C Saatchi | PR Manager |
| Jaimes Leggett | M&C Saatchi | CEO |
| Jeanette Li | Digital Playground | Marketing & PR Coordinator |
| Jakodema | Digital Playground | Director |
| Jamie Morgan | Blue Ball Foundation | Founder |
| Andy DiLallo | M&C Saatchi | Chief Creative Officer |
For the first time ever, an actual porno was interrupted by a public health message, as a way of reaching young men who’d otherwise avoid testicular cancer warnings. We partnered with Digital Playground, one of the biggest adult film studios, to be part of their biggest release of the year, a tribute to the world’s biggest TV show... Each user discovered our direct message in GAME OF BALLS, as part of their natural viewing habits. For the entire message, the lead actress broke the 3rd wall, turned to camera and spoke directly to the user, delivering the message one-to-one: a demo of how to check yourself. At the end of the message, she pointed to an on-screen URL, which took the user directly to a website where they could learn more, get help and spread the word.
GAME OF BALLS was a porno whose appeal to men was optimised: a big star, and a popular theme. The public health message hidden inside not only surprised them, but reached them at a time when they already had their hands a few centimetres from their testicles. It was first released on a paid site, DigitalPlayground.com, on 12 April 2015, the release date for Game of Thrones Season 5. Soon after, 6-minute teaser versions were seeded out to free shared sites like RedTube.com, YouPorn.com, PornHub.com and XVideos.com. It then spread organically to at least half a dozen more free sites, and was quickly shared peer-to-peer across multiple torrent websites during the Game of Thrones illegal download frenzy. Each user discovered our content, hidden inside the film, as part of their natural viewing habits – and they continue to do so, as the campaign is ongoing…
Because Australian men are 21% more likely to get testicular cancer than the world average, we directed men to the Blue Ball Foundation, an Australian awareness charity. Young men are the most at risk, and a high percentage of them watch adult films online (70% in Australia, according to Sydney Uni). So we knew that porn sites were a place we could reach them in private, and get our direct message through. Our message took them to a campaign website, where they could find out about the cancer in general, and – if Australian – how the Blue Ball Foundation could help.
We literally caught men with their pants down. Our direct message spread organically across the net, with 1.5+ million views in 4 weeks, 2.5+ million in 6 weeks, and reaching 6+ million and counting... About 3 millions of these views came from men discovering our message during their natural viewing habits. These numbers were then significantly boosted by torrent sharing during the Game of Thrones Season 5 illegal download frenzy (around launch, on April 12) accounting for about 3+ million more views. GAME OF BALLS is now one of the most-watched films on the pornweb. As we hoped, the global awareness has filtered through to Australia. And it’s still saving lives, the world over.