Search form

menu menu
  • Daily & Weekly newsletters
  • Buy & download The Bulletin
  • Comment on our articles

Testicular cancer campaign hijacks graffiti to deliver health message

An example of the sticker used on graffiti in Santiago, Chile (Instagram)
05:19 22/03/2022

An original marketing campaign has hijacked the penis graffiti that is prevalent in streets all across the world to raise awareness of testicular cancer among men.

Testicular cancer is the most common cancer in men between the ages of 15 and 35, it kills a hundred people a year worldwide and, most often, young people under the age of 45.

After being made aware of all the penis and testicle tags in the streets of Santiago, the capital of Chile, the country’s National Cancer Institute saw an opportunity to combine street art and prevention. In association with the McCann Santiago agency, the Institute created stickers depicting a red hand that examines the testicles in the way men should be doing to check for lumps. The goal of the campaign is to raise awareness of self-checks as a way to detect any abnormalities in the testicles that could be cancer.

Now the campaign has gone viral and citizens in cities all over the world, including those in Belgium, are adapting penis graffiti into a health message with the use of downloadable stickers.

You can participate in this initiative by logging onto the graffitesti.com website, and printing the sticker out in PNG format before sticking it on the penis graffiti in your city.

Written by Nick Amies