What’s the best way to fight cancer? Give it to someone we love.

Bowel cancer kills more New Zealanders than breast and prostate cancers combined.

But Kiwis are too embarrassed to discuss it.

We found that people who have had loved ones go through it do talk about it, openly.

So we found someone Kiwis love and gave him bowel cancer.

Working with New Zealand’s longest-running soap opera, Shortland Street we were able to create a storyline which put a popular character through the disease. Over a six week period, 350 000 Kiwis sat through a masterclass in bowel cancer education.

Over the course of six weeks, a popular character, Damo Johnson, went through all the phases of bowel cancer, from embarrassing symptoms, to fear of making a doctor’s appointment, to examination, colonoscopy, diagnosis, writing a will, surgery, survival and recovery.

Throughout the storyline, all of the important information regarding early testing and detection was imparted by different characters as part of their natural dialogue.

350,000 viewers who watched the story unfold over a six week period are now better informed about bowel cancer. We have not spent any of the charity’s funds on researching change of attitudes, but will be measuring the impact on our annual fundraising month in Jun 2018.

With a zero dollar media budget we repeatedly reached hundreds of thousands of dedicated and attentive viewers over a six week period.

The insidious nature of this disease is that it affects people from all walks of life and all age groups. Our target is literally all New Zealanders (except infants).

We needed a vehicle which reached as wide a population as possible.

It is hard to overstate the long-term influence of this soap opera on the culture and psyche of NZ. It has been running on tv most weeknights for 25 years and is now also heavily consumed on demand.

Shortland Street is a cultural institution. Watching the show remains a rite of passage for New Zealanders from all walks of life. Its audience is also incredibly loyal.

This made it an ideal vehicle to deliver a six week medical education about a man fearing death and soiling his pants at work.

The show was our first choice and the producers agreed to collaborate, free of charge.

Bowel Cancer New Zealand is fighting staggering rates of diagnosis and death from this disease, armed with a near non-existent budget.

Awareness of the disease is very low, so increasing understanding of the issue amongst the general population is the first crucial step.

One major obstacle is New Zealand’s reticence to discuss an issue regarding bottoms and poo with each other, let alone with a doctor.

The disease can strike anyone at any age, so the target audience is “as many Kiwis as possible for no budget.”