Brief Explanation

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 activation in GAME OF BALLS, as part of their natural viewing habits, while searching for arousing content. 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. At the end of the activation, 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.

The Brief

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... 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.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

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.

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

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 activation, hidden inside the film, as part of their natural viewing habits – and they continue to do so…