Our campaign's simple experiment: Can humor inform men about the prostate's function and importance in good health? 
and our latest...
will trying to make the prostate funny get more guys to care about their gland health?
Sunday
CAUTION: The following content is more controversial. Prostate Cancer is Not a Laughing Matter. But, can humor help in the fight?
We started our campaign to use PG-13 humor to make the prostate funny so as not to offend anyone. However, marketing executives from the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries have asked us to explore the use of 'edgier' humor for reaching younger men. And, while we avoid the topic of prostate cancer, leaving that to the cancer awareness non-profits, some staff members of those groups have wondered if helping cancer patients smile and laugh as a coping tactic might be beneficial. With the caution that we may make some viewers uncomfortable, keep scrollng down if you wish to visit this area of our site.(By the way, did you know the prostate is the only heart-shaped organ in human anatomy.)
In doing research for our campaign, we've been shocked to learn that many men do not know the prostate's function. Richard Saul Wurman's epochal book Information Anxiety says that if someone does not understand the basics of a topic, he can't learn anything new about it. So that's why we're not about cancer. We're about the prostate. Look for more retro magazine and movie posters about positive prostate-health steps to take coming soon. If you have prostate cancer, our goal is make you grin with reminders about healthy attitudes and actions to help fight the disease.
While our campaign tries to avoid the topic of prostate cancer, preferring to leave that topic to the highly-regarded cancer awareness groups, some cancer survivors have asked us if we think funny' glanceable' pictures might be helpful in lightening the burden of living with the disease. Again, we don't know the answer to this question, but experimenting with visual journalism is one way to get professionals and cancer patients to discuss the question. Of course, a common technique is the use of famous cancer survivors to urge men to do more. So here is our twist on this tactic. Also, if you'd like to see a journal of funny pictures put together by a cancer survivor click the following link.
Download Journal in a new browser.
Watch for some of the graphic arts industry's best artists to use photo manipulation software in creating funny pictures for our campaign's various galleries. With this image, we can imagine the 'puppy dog' looks that men give their wives when they don't follow through on the proper medical tests.
Comment?
So you're in a noisy restaurant and you see a couple of guys start to do strange gyrations with their trouser legs back and forth as if they're communicating. They may actually be spelling out words in a new language -- Trouser Talk. And when they are talking about having to go too often, they may have BPH -- and thus low flow -- and not know it. (Of course, the gyrations could also mean they just 'gotta go right now'.
Why does this site have so many gags about guys always running to the bathroom? Because that's a key signal for a friend, wife or girlfriend to pick up and make certain this chap gets a DRE and PSA test. Names of the cleaning crew on the left of this comic poster are: Slow Mop Sue, Sam Scrub-A-Dub, and TP Refilling Freak.
Of course, the reason public johns are closed for cleaning is because of the filthy vermin slobs who mess them up for the rest of us. Click Larger view to meet this cockroach and his rat companion.
The Web is wonderful for finding odd images like our awful old album covers above. Here we haven't a clue what this image means, but since many women probably feel like they are talking to a brick wall when encouraging their husbands to take the proper steps in prostate health, maybe this image speaks to that problem.
Testosterone is the enemy of prostate cancer cells, yet many men who may not be diligently getting checked for cancer may be taking testosterone boosting supplements or prescriptions. This is a potential crisis we have yet to see the media cover.
You can admit it. You really don't know where the prostate is (other than it must be close to the entry point the doc uses for digital rectal exams). You don't know how big it is. And so on. Again, it's simple. It's the size of walnut and it sits just below your bladder. The urethra, the tube that carries urine, runs through the middle of the gland.
Saturday
If you know men who feel trapped by trying to maintain a facade of their invincibility but don't do the right things for their health, we say: "We could give a Rat's Ass. Get smart." The Men's Health Network is a fantastic organization. Consider the following from its Goals statement: "There is an ongoing, increasing and predominantly silent crisis in the health and well-being of men. Due to a lack of awareness, poor health education, and culturally induced behavior patterns in their work and personal lives, men's health and well-being are deteriorating steadily." Watch for more about MHN at this site.
Again, we've been shocked to meet men who take pride in supposedly tricking their wives so they don't have to keep doctors' appointments. The excuse is usually that something came up at the last moment. We can't even comment on the cowardice and idiocy in this behavior.
Some critics of our campaign have suggested not trying to get clever or artistic with our posters. Instead, they suggest simple, direct prodding at the fear men might harbor about proper prostate health. We welcome the debate, but we don't think fear works in the long haul.
