Men not regularly checking their penises increases the potential spread of STDs. We need to find a way to reach them and change their mindset. Dating apps and the habit of men sharing dick pics provided a perfect opportunity to engage with this audience.

Last year, an alarming fact was brought to light by the World Health Organization: the rise of 1 million cases of STDs every day around the globe. As a tech startup focused on men’s health, He Health wanted to do something about it. With their innovative A.I. that can identify STDs through an image, we were tasked with finding a clever and effective way to engage with men. The objective was to show them how taking care of their sexual health doesn’t need to be a burden or annoying. It’s actually really simple with the He Health app.

When talking about men's intimacy, there are many taboos and restrictions. However, on social media and dating apps, men are often eager to share explicit photos of themselves. With this insight, we created Dr. Dick Pic: more than 100 dating app profiles designed to encourage men to share images of their genitals. Our A.I. analyzed the photos and provided the results back to the men, linking them up with our doctors in case STDs were identified.

According to a survey, 78% of dating app users reported receiving unsolicited dick pics. Whether we like it or not, this is a common practice in the dating app world. Our target audience was readily available, offering us what we wanted on a silver platter, or rather, on a picture. All we had to do was create fake male and female profiles on all the major dating apps. We knew men would share dick pics without much effort. We collected thousands of photos within a few days and identified concerning ones, providing men with a clear call to action and offering our app as a solution.

To begin, we created over 100 profiles on all major dating apps, including Tinder, Bumble, Hinge, Grindr, Coffee meets Bagel, among others. We had a team monitoring these profiles and searching for dick pics. The profile managers were trained to discreetly and confidentially analyze these images with the user's permission. If an STD was detected, the user was offered solutions and advised to download our app to speak with a doctor. While some men were angry and did not follow up, most took the matter lightly and understood the intentions behind the project. In the end, all users gained access to a simple tool to analyze their sexual health.

We launched Dr. Dick Pic and He Health A.I in March 2023, keeping it a secret to prevent men from recognizing or avoiding the fake profiles. However, the idea soon gained significant PR traction and attention. Ultimately, we analyzed over 2,000 dick pics and identified more than 50 potential STD cases. Most men contacted us for further investigation, and some even began treatment immediately.