Title | GAME OF BALLS |
Brand | BLUE BALL FOUNDATION |
Product / Service | TESTICULAR CANCER AWARENESS |
Category | B01. Education & Awareness (incl. Fundraising and Advocacy) |
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 |
Production Company | DIGITAL PLAYGROUND Los Angeles, USA |
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 |
Testicular cancer is the number 1 cancer in young men. It’s a subject men like to avoid - even though it could save their life: it’s 97% curable when detected early. Luckily, we knew where we could reach them... For the first time ever, an actual porno was interrupted by a public health message. 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... In the middle of GAME OF BALLS, our porn star stopped, turned to the viewer, and taught him how to check himself - demonstrating on her co-star’s privates. And 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. We literally caught men with their pants down. Our activation 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... 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.
Our goal was awareness, among as many young men as possible – globally, with awareness filtering through to Australia. The more men who saw the message, the more would be made aware of the dangers of testicular cancer – and be more likely to check themselves regularly.
GAME OF BALLS 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.
We literally caught men with their pants down. Our media idea 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.
We needed a disruptive way of reaching young men who’d otherwise avoid testicular cancer warnings. So we partnered with Digital Playground, one of the biggest adult film studios, to be part of their biggest digital release of the year, a tribute to the world’s biggest TV show... Each user discovered our message in GAME OF BALLS, as part of their natural digital viewing habits. In the middle of the action, our porn star stopped, turned to the viewer, and taught him how to check himself - demonstrating on her co-star’s privates. Near the end of the message, she pointed to an on-screen URL, where the user could learn more, get help and spread the word. And because Australian men are 21% more likely to get testicular cancer than the world average, the website featured the Blue Ball Foundation, an Australian awareness charity.