Many charities have to overcome the challenges of talking about serious, often sensitive subjects. But few are up against the deeply personal and yet culturally embedded emotional response a prostate examination conjures up. Famous Fingers successfully navigated fear, shame and embarrassment to get men talking about something wildly out of their comfort zone. Prostate Cancer Canada managed to normalize prostate examinations, taking men from a ‘no way’ to a ‘what would it take’ mindset using Famous Fingers rather than finger pointing.

Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer afflicting men worldwide. In Canada it is so prevalent that 6 in 10 men over 65 will get prostate cancer. The good news: it’s highly treatable. When detected early, 90% of cases are curable. The bad news: not enough men get checked. And so, a system built on check -> detect -> cure is falling at the first hurdle.

Prostate Cancer Canada’s long-term goals are to ensure that by 2029 no man is diagnosed with stage IV prostate cancer, decrease the death rate of prostate cancer by another 50% and to make it easier for all Canadians to talk about prostate cancer.

PCC’s ask was simple: a campaign to encourage more men to have a prostate exam.

How can we get men to consider a life-saving procedure when a prostate exam is the last thing they want to even think about?

Prostate Cancer Canada is challenged with a lack of awareness. Not only are they smaller than many other charities but the curable nature of prostate cancer makes them often overlooked. Given this context and Prostate Cancer Canada’s unwavering commitment to better outcomes for prostate cancer patients, there was a need to break the cultural silence on prostate cancer.

Our primary target is men, 40+; who in recent years have generally become more proactive about their health. Health conversations may now finally extend beyond injuries, but health issues with any levity or awkwardness remain rarely discussed, a double blow for prostate exams. Diagnosis are rarely shared and the discomfort and awkwardness of traditional screening is a barrier.

We had to find a way to take the awkward out of the conversation by providing guys with an alternative way to talk about the procedure.

Through audience immersion, we quickly realized that telling men to book a prostate exam wouldn’t work. We needed to give them an irresistible reason to talk about prostate cancer testing.

To give the check -> detect -> cure model a chance, we needed to first create a conversation.

Prostate cancer needed to trigger people to open up, not shut down. The narrative needed to be something that was more comfortable, yet more worthy of discussion. Something safe yet stimulating; serious yet silly. Tone was key given ‘humour is just a funny way of being serious’.

Framing the real exam in a new context was imperative. Leaning into the awkwardness allowed us to shed light on why it is ultimately worth the perceived physical and social discomfort. Rather than enabling the conversation to stay in the negative, we framed it as a ‘what would it take’ challenge for our audience.

Introducing the Famous Fingers Collection: prototypes of the first exam gloves modelled after the famous fingers’ men admire; we used celebrity to normalize the prostate exam experience.

To launch the Collection, we brought the audience into a prostate exam where four men get their prostates repeatedly checked by doctors testing the Collection of Famous Fingers. We captured their reactions, hoping to find the perfect set of Fingers that just might save their life.

An integrated campaign was used to spread the word around the individual gloves with challenges such as “His Finger Called the Shot. Next up, your prostate?” for Babe Ruth.

Crucially, every touchpoint led to FamousFingers.ca, where men could browse through the Collection, navigate additional educational resources and begin having the conversation.

In just four weeks, with a limited media plan, the campaign reached more than 1 million Canadians. Most importantly, it got people talking about prostate cancer.

Famous Fingers has been shared and commented on over 10,000 times across social media with men talking about who’s finger they would choose and encouraging each other to get tested.

Prostate cancer organizations and doctors in around the world are celebrating Famous Fingers, engaging with content and encouraging men to get tested globally.

The Collection was picked up by 124 publications across the US, Europe and Canada reaching over 13 million people globally, as well as being featured in a Times Square billboard and an extended length segment on a national Canadian broadcaster, CityTV.

The Famous Fingers have made their way into waiting rooms with doctors proudly displaying the Collection, garnering more discussion at the source among their patients and encouraging early age pre-screening.