Monday 5 June 2000
The Institute of Cancer Research launches the first television commercial to raise awareness of prostate cancer today, with footballers Alan Hansen, David Batty, John Hartson and Les Ferdinand playing a leading role.
The commercial features a series of well-known footballers and personalities, together with some football supporters announcing what is presumed to be football results. The ad opens with each player on a pitch, Tottenham's Les Ferdinand reads out a score, 'Tottenham 1', and then switches to David Batty (Leeds United) who reads another score, John Hartson (Wimbledon) and so on continuing to a number of football supporters.
The camera then cuts to Alan Hansen, who says "Across the UK, 53 men are told they have prostate cancer every day. Yet it receives just a fraction of the money that goes towards cancer research. We need more supporters."
The 40 second commercial features a telephone line to the everyman campaign, 0906 30 22 502, for further information (calls cost 50p a minute).
Research published today by The Institute of Cancer Research shows that there is still a long way to go to raise awareness. In a MORI poll conducted for The Institute, 71% of men claimed that they knew 'a little' or 'nothing at all' about prostate cancer. m/f By using one of men's favourite pastimes and coinciding with Euro 2000, everyman hopes to raise awareness in men across the UK.
Shooting the commercial, Alan Hansen said: "Football is obviously a high priority for many men whilst their health can be neglected. Hopefully, this ad will encourage men to pay more attention to prostate cancer and look out for any warning signs. If we can catch their attention by linking football with health awareness, then we've achieved our goal."
For Tottenham striker Les Ferdinand, the campaign has a personal connection: "I lost my grandfather two years ago to prostate cancer and so raising awareness about cancer is now very close to my heart. I don't think men know enough about the problems that can affect them but hopefully the everyman campaign can change that."
Professor Colin Cooper, from The Institute of Cancer Research commented: "Using football is obviously a great way to communicate with men and these footballing heroes can really help us to get the message across effectively. It's a terrible fact that across the UK 19,500 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year yet only a fraction of the money spent on research goes to prostate cancer research. We hope to raise both awareness and funding with this new campaign."
The commercial was donated to The Institute of Cancer Research by Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH), one of the world's leading advertising agencies. The campaign will appear on national television from June. BBH also designed a press advertising campaign to complement the television advert.
The everyman campaign was launched in September 1997 by The Institute of Cancer Research to raise awareness of and funding for male cancers. Money raised is going towards building and running the UK's first dedicated male cancer research centre, at The Institute in Sutton.
For details of the everyman campaign, to pledge money or for a leaflet about prostate cancer, contact the Institute of Cancer Research on 0906 30 22 502 or visit the website on www.icr.ac.uk/everyman.
Notes for Editors
- 19,500 new cases of prostate cancer are diagnosed each year. It is now the second most common cancer in men, after lung cancer, and accounts for 15 per cent of all cases of cancer in men
- Only about 1per cent of total government expenditure on cancer research is dedicated to prostate cancer research
- For more information about prostate cancer or to get involved with Go Sports MAD, a national fundraising day on 9 June to raise more funds for research into male cancers, please call 0906 30 22 502 (calls cost 50p per minute)
- The commercial follows on from last year's campaign which featured Robbie Williams in a TV advert to raise awareness of testicular cancer
For further press information please contact The Press Office on:-
Tel: 0207 970 6030
email: [email protected]
Please note:
Unfortunately the press office are unable to answer queries from the general public. For general cancer information please refer to The Institute's cancer information page.