A Manchester creative agency has developed what is believed to be the world’s first digital outdoor advert controlled by a player’s backside, in a campaign designed to tackle deadly misconceptions around prostate cancer testing.
TBWA\MCR created the interactive Digital Out of Home (DOOH) campaign for prostate cancer charity Prost8, using motion-tracking technology that allows participants to control a virtual bum with their own movements in a retro-style arcade game.
The campaign, called Dodge The Finger, aims to reassure men that prostate cancer screening is a simple blood test rather than the invasive procedure many fear. Around 12,000 men die from prostate cancer in the UK each year, with early detection estimated to reduce deaths by up to 40%.
The Manchester agency’s playful concept invites players to dodge incoming fingers on a giant screen by moving their hips, using Ocean Outdoor’s skeletal tracking technology. The interactive experience will appear at Manchester’s Printworks on 4 March and at Westfield Stratford City in London on 14 March, timed to coincide with major football fixtures.
The project has already attracted international recognition, winning Gold in Ocean Outdoor’s annual Digital Creative Competition and taking the overall European Grand Prix across seven markets.
The campaign launches across major premium outdoor screens in cities including Amsterdam, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Helsinki and London during Prostate Cancer Awareness Month in March.
Lisa Nichols, executive creative director at TBWA\MCR, said: “To be able to say that you’ve created the world’s first ad controlled by a bum is something any creative agency would jump at. But for the team here at TBWA\MCR to be able to do it for Prost8 and raise awareness around a test that could help save men’s lives is even better.
“Thanks to a really bold client and Ocean Outdoor’s unique DOOH technology – we’re hopefully going to get more blokes talking about prostate cancer and going for that test.”
Paul Sayer, founder and CEO of Prost8, said the campaign would help educate men about PSA testing and the importance of early diagnosis.
The work builds on TBWA\MCR’s earlier award-winning campaign for Prost8, The Other Prostate Check, which also sought to challenge myths around prostate cancer examinations.
