As the YOUR POOP WANTS TO TELL YOU SOMETHING campaign / advertisements do not promote medication of any kind, there are no specific rules applicable to this commercial in The Netherlands.

Colon cancer is the second deadliest cancer in the Netherlands. Checking your poop is one of the best ways to self-diagnose the disease early and save your life. When the Dutch Digestive Foundation approached us to create a public awareness campaign, we realized that people don’t like to talk about their poop. So we let poop do the talking instead.

Www.yourpoop.nl is the heart of the campaign. It offers information on early signs of colon cancer and a simple poop checking tool. A campaign film is embedded in the website and aired on TV. Furthermore radio spots, outdoor advertising, print, celebrity tweets, online advertising and outdoor activation drive traffic to the site. In addition, PR activities aimed at national, local and specialist media increased public awareness. After identifying various viral hot spots in health, marketing & communication, 50+ and general interest news sites a seeding strategy targeted the key influencers.

The campaign not only reached the target audience. It made them listen and act as well. Your poop wants to tell you something. Check it frequently, especially if you’re 50 or over. Check www.yourpoop.nl. Dutch Digestive Foundation. Flush Colon Cancer.

The Dutch Digestive Foundation aims to reduce the number of Colon Cancer victims by making the group most at risk (50+) aware of the fact that self-diagnosis saves lives.

The main objective of this campaign was to increase the percentage of the target group that is aware of the early symptoms of colon cancer and checks regularly from 47% in 2013 to 65% end of year 2014. The campaign target was to reach 45% of the target audience.

Www.yourpoop.nl is the heart of the campaign. It offers information on early signs of colon cancer and a simple poop checking tool. A campaign film is embedded in the website and aired on TV. Furthermore radio spots, outdoor advertising, print, celebrity tweets, online banners and a very funny outdoor activation in which our turd talks to by-passers are driving traffic to the site. In addition, PR activities aimed at national, local and specialist media increased public awareness. After identifying various viral hot spots in health, marketing & communication, 50+ and general interest news sites a seeding strategy was carried out targeted at the key influencers.

The campaign reached of over 1,000,000 people, 50,000+ visits on the website, 125,000+ YouTube views, it has been highlighted on 74 (specialist) blogs, in 4 minute item in a prime time TV program on national TV and our online PR activities have resulted in a media value of 80,000 Euro. The campaign reached 72% of the target audience so our goal of reaching 45% was crushed.

When developing the strategy, it soon became clear that our 50+ target audience wouldn’t listen to scary stories from doctors and survivors stressing the need for self-diagnosis. Furthermore, we found that no-one likes to talk about poop. So we let poop do the talking instead, resulting in the ‘Your poop wants to tell you something’ campaign.

Colon cancer is the second deadliest cancer in the Netherlands, but it’s relatively easy to cure when diagnosed in an early stage. Checking your poop is the best ways to self-diagnose the disease and potentially save your life.

Awareness campaigns on health related issues tend to be very serious in the Netherlands. Doctors, patients and relatives of (deceased) patients stress the importance of acting, checking or donating to reduce the number of victims. The general assumptions seems to be that scaring people is the best way to create awareness.