Marie Stopes ask football fans if they 'have the balls' to get a vasectomy
Marie Stopes is leveraging the football euphoria engulfing the UK this summer to launch a new health campaign, which will use football as a platform to encourage men to consider having a vasectomy.
Using taglines such as ‘Have You Got the Balls,’ the campaign has been created in partnership with sports media and digital marketing agency Sports Revolution. It is aiming to use the popularity of football to help men and their partners begin talking about family planning, vasectomies and sexual health.
The health drive will target two groups, 34-45 year-old men and couples who already have a family. It will attempt to reach men through LED pitch-side and static media, placed at crucial end-of-season matches across the Premier League, as well as the Championship and the Conference leagues. It has also partnered up with the popular grassroots network Club Website to target couples who play local Sunday team matches.
Marie Stopes UK’s head of marketing, Vix Proctor, said the aim of the campaign was “to use the nation’s love of football to create an open discussion on family planning”.
Proctor added: “With tag lines such as ‘have you got the balls?’ and ‘are you ready to tackle your tackle?' we want to use humour to empower men to confidently make their own decisions about having a vasectomy.
“Too often, contraception is seen as a woman’s responsibility, but vasectomy – safe, easy, and more than 99% effective – is one way that men can protect their partners from unplanned pregnancy.”
Tom Fogg, associate director at Sports Revolution, said: ““We are thrilled to work with Marie Stopes UK to develop this campaign. Football is an ideal way to connect with an engaged audience, especially when you want to reach large numbers of men. For this promotion, we wanted to use humor to create a lively discussion.”
Marie Stopes will benefit from Sports Revolution’s experience in using sport to engage fans with marketing campaigns. The agency has advertising rights in 45 football grounds around the UK and has previous delivered campaigns for brands targeting men and families including Beko and The Royal Navy.