Helping men face their fear of finding out.

healthdirect, a government service that provides trusted health information, came to us with a problem; that men were an under represented group when it came to seeking health advice, and often waited until they had life threatening symptoms before using any health service.

“In most Western cultures men learn to be emotionally and physically strong, independent and prone to risk taking. As a result they are more likely to engage in unhealthy practices, and less likely to admit to pain or seek medical advice, which subsequently leads to delays in receiving treatment and often serious health consequences such as advanced cancer or heart disease” - The quiet crisis: Challenges for Men’s Health in Australia, APS. 

To break this behaviour, healthdirect needed a bold message that would cut-through and reach men who were immobilized by their Fear of Finding Out (FoFO).

Telling our story through a character that our target audience could relate to, our approach was to personify his fear and show how it actively causes stress, anxiety and can be worse than dealing directly with what’s often a manageable health issue. 

The campaign targeted men aged 45-55 in the ACT & NT through TV, cinema, press and digital  – encouraging them to face their fears and take the first and easy step in fighting their FoFO by calling healthdirect Australia and talking directly to a registered nurse.