Home Campaigns Ad of the Week Ad of the Week: Give a Sh*t

    Ad of the Week: Give a Sh*t

    JWT Folk and The Marie Keating Foundation urge Irish people to #GIVEASHIT

    You may have noticed outdoor up around west Dublin and over the last two
    months or some media personalities brandishing toilet roll urging people to “Give a
    Sh*t” over the past week. This is the culmination of a two-month-long campaign by
    the Marie Keating Foundation to raise awareness about Bowel Cancer. The campaign,
    created by Dublin creative agency JWT Folk, urges the people aged 60 – 69 to “GIVE A
    SH*T. It could save your life.”

    Creative Partner, Karl Waters explains; “Uptake of the bowel cancer screening test is
    40.2%. We knew that the issue was more than a lack of awareness – targeted
    campaigns have been done before on free the bowel-screening.”

    “We’ve come a long way when it comes to discussing diseases and taking care of our
    health, but bowel cancer is one disease that people are still not comfortable talking
    about. And this is mainly because the screening process is a bit embarrassing to
    discuss! So rather than repeating statistics that people already know – that bowel
    cancer is in the top 3 most common cancers in Ireland, and that early detection gives
    you 90% change of living more than 5 years after diagnosis – we approached it by
    referring directly to the thing people are most embarrassed about discussing – the fact
    that the screening involves literally ‘giving a sh*t’!”

    Waters continued; “One thing Irish people have in spades is a sense of humour so
    what better way to dispel embarrassment and destigmatise bowel cancer screening,
    than to poke a bit of fun at the process?”

    Outdoor posters, featuring the line “I GAVE A SH*T. AND IT SAVED MY LIFE.” popped
    up in targeted areas around screening centres. The ads feature both males and
    females in the target age bracket.

    The campaign also targeted a wider Irish audience through social media. “We all have
    a parent or relative in this age group, and we all want to ensure they stay around for
    as long as possible, so we saw targeting a wider audience as a crucial step in ensuring
    the message gets out there. We know that a lot of people go to the doctor or for a
    screening at the urging of relatives, so it’s important to target familes too.” explains
    Waters.

    To round off the campaign, and ensure extended awareness throughout April – Bowel
    Cancer Awareness Month – JWT Folk and the Marie Keating Foundation sent a special
    gift to carefully selected media personalities and influencers – a toilet roll with an
    important message – “GIVE A SH*T. It could save your life.”

    The toilet rolls were sent to a select target group based on their following or position
    in Irish culture. For example, health experts like Dr Ciara Kelly and media personalities
    like Maia Dunphy.

    The Marie Keating Foundation CEO, Liz Yeates says; “As early detection is such a key
    focus for the Marie Keating Foundation, we are delighted to be highlighting the
    importance of Bowel Screening in this campaign in order to detect more cases of bowel
    cancer at the earliest stages and in order to save lives. Our message is simple: Take part
    in BowelScreen once you receive your invitation – you may have no symptoms but the
    test can detect this invisible disease and it could save your life,”

    The campaign will continue on social media, radio and outdoor throughout April.

    Credits:

    Agency: JWT Folk
    Client – The Marie Keating Foundation
    CEO – Liz Yeates
    Agency Credits
    Creative Partner – Karl Waters
    Art Director – Dean Ryan
    Copywriter – Rebecca Dore
    Designers – Adam McKiernan and Paul Dowd
    Planner – Derwin Myers
    Social and Content Manager – Nicola Halloran
    Account Manager – Sarah Conlan

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