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Euphejisms Turns Prostate Cancer Awareness Into a Book Worth Buying
Euphejisms' 'Get Your Prostate Checked' is a 2019 United States film campaign created by NIgel & Co. that uses a book of 100 humorous euphemisms related to prostate health to normalise conversations about prostate cancer screening among men and encourage them to book an examination.
The campaign launched in July 2019 around a physical product: Euphejisms: A Glossary of Sperminology, a 100-page paperback retailing at $15, according to Muse by Clio, according to Bestadsontv. Every dollar of profit from the book was directed to two charitable organisations — the Prostate Cancer Foundation and ZERO: The End of Prostate Cancer — making the creative work simultaneously a fundraising mechanism and a public health intervention. The film, the single media asset at the heart of the campaign, introduced the concept to audiences across the United States and invited them to purchase the book as an act of advocacy.
The campaign's strategic premise rests on a straightforward and sobering statistic: approximately one in nine men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime. Rather than leading with that statistic in a clinical or fear-based register, Euphejisms and NIgel & Co. chose levity as the primary vehicle — reasoning that embarrassment, not ignorance, is the dominant barrier preventing men from seeking a prostate examination. The Clapboard Score for this campaign stands at 67 out of 100, reflecting a project that demonstrates genuine creative ingenuity and clear charitable intent within a modest independent production context.
Embarrassment is the central barrier this campaign was designed to dismantle, according to Adsoftheworld. Dustin Ballard, group creative leader and copywriter at The Richards Group, described the campaign's origin to Muse by Clio: it 'started over lunch one day among ad friends, according to Prostatecancerregistry.' Ballard elaborated that 'we're all reaching the age where prostate cancer is a real risk, affecting close co-workers even, and it struck us how awkward it is to talk about getting a prostate exam.' That personal candour defines the strategic posture of the entire campaign — peer-to-peer rather than institutional, humorous rather than clinical.
The broader men's health communication landscape in the United States is crowded with awareness-month activations and sober statistics-led messaging. Movember, the globally recognised men's health charity, has long occupied the fundraising and awareness space around prostate and testicular cancer, while the Prostate Cancer Foundation — itself a beneficiary of Euphejisms' book proceeds — runs sustained education programmes. Against these established players, NIgel & Co. chose a differentiating tactic: a consumer product that is inherently shareable, priced accessibly at $15 per Muse by Clio, and designed to generate conversation through comedy rather than solemnity.
Healthcare advertising in general was a growing segment at the time of the campaign's launch, according to Musebyclios. According to Zenith Media, healthcare advertising expenditure across 13 major markets reached US$35, according to Cwue5.1 billion in 2018, up 3.4% from 2017, with Zenith forecasting continued growth of 3.6% for 2019. The United States was among the 13 markets measured in Zenith's sample, which Zenith noted collectively represented approximately 78% of global advertising expenditure across all categories. Within that expanding healthcare media environment, purpose-driven and cause-linked campaigns were gaining traction as a way for smaller brands and initiatives to earn organic coverage without the media budgets of pharmaceutical advertisers.
Kiran Koshy directed the campaign film. Koshy, operating through Slash Dynamic, brought a comedic sensibility to subject matter that most healthcare communications treat with institutional gravity. The film's single-asset format — one piece of film designed to carry the full weight of the campaign's message — placed significant creative pressure on tone, pacing, and performance.
The production credits documented by Clapboard identify a tightly collaborative creative team. Andy Coulston served as Art Director, while the writing credits were shared among Jack Westerholt, Dustin Ballard, and Andy Coulston. Director of Photography Mike Jensen handled the visual execution, and talent Charles Barry appeared on screen. Hair and makeup was credited to a crew member whose full name appears in partial form in available documentation. The result is a campaign that reads less like a traditional healthcare public service announcement and more like an independent comedic short — a deliberate choice to reach men who would scroll past conventional health messaging.
The product design itself functions as a creative extension of the film. The book Euphejisms: A Glossary of Sperminology comprises 100 euphemisms related to semen and prostate health, each presumably constructed to be funny enough to share with a friend and pointed enough to carry a health message. This dual function — entertainment object and awareness vehicle — is structurally unusual in health campaign design and represents a considered creative decision by the NIgel & Co. team. The film's role was to make the book desirable; the book's role was to make the conversation unavoidable. As listed on Ads of the World and archived on Clapboard, the campaign positions the United States as its primary market while gesturing toward a broader global relevance given the universality of the underlying health issue.
No independently verified campaign performance metrics — such as video views, book sales volumes, or total charitable funds raised — are publicly available for the Euphejisms 'Get Your Prostate Checked' campaign at the time of this writing. Coverage by Muse by Clio, published under the headline 'This Book of Euphejisms Takes Playful Aim at Prostate Cancer' and dated July 3, 2024, confirms that the campaign attracted editorial attention in a respected industry publication, indicating meaningful creative recognition within the advertising and health communications communities. Listing on Ads of the World further corroborates the campaign's reach within professional creative circles.
Structurally, the campaign's effectiveness model is coherent. A $15 price point for the book makes purchase a low-friction decision, and directing all profits to the Prostate Cancer Foundation and ZERO: The End of Prostate Cancer gives buyers an immediate and named charitable outcome. The film format suits organic social distribution — the primary channel through which independent, cause-driven creative work in the United States typically earns reach without paid media support. The creative decision to centre humour addresses the most documented barrier to prostate examination in men's health research: social embarrassment rather than lack of awareness. In combination, these structural elements suggest a campaign well-designed for grassroots amplification, even if formal reach metrics remain undisclosed.
'Get Your Prostate Checked' is a July 2019 United States film campaign created by NIgel & Co. for Euphejisms. It promotes prostate cancer screening through humour, centred on a $15 book of 100 prostate-health euphemisms, with all proceeds supporting the Prostate Cancer Foundation and ZERO: The End of Prostate Cancer, per Muse by Clio.
Kiran Koshy directed the campaign film for Euphejisms. Koshy worked through production company Slash Dynamic. Additional creative credits documented by Clapboard include Art Director Andy Coulston, writers Jack Westerholt and Dustin Ballard, and Director of Photography Mike Jensen, making it a collaboratively produced independent health campaign.
All profits from the Euphejisms book go directly to prostate cancer research and patient support. The two named charitable recipients are the Prostate Cancer Foundation and ZERO: The End of Prostate Cancer, according to Muse by Clio. The book, titled Euphejisms: A Glossary of Sperminology, retailed at $15 in the United States.
NIgel & Co. used humour because embarrassment, not ignorance, is the primary barrier preventing men from seeking prostate examinations. Dustin Ballard, writing collaborator on the campaign, told Muse by Clio the idea arose from recognising how awkward it is to discuss prostate exams, even among men personally affected by prostate cancer risk.
The Clapboard Score for Euphejisms' 'Get Your Prostate Checked' campaign is 67 out of 100. This score reflects the campaign's creative ingenuity and clear charitable purpose within the context of an independent production, as assessed by Clapboard's editorial evaluation framework for archived advertising work.
The Euphejisms campaign occupies a comedic, peer-driven niche within US men's health advertising, differentiating itself from established players such as Movember and the Prostate Cancer Foundation's own education programmes. Rather than clinical messaging, NIgel & Co. built a shareable consumer product designed to make prostate cancer conversations unavoidable among men approaching screening age.
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