This purpose campaign puts stickers on phallic graffiti

No matter what city you're in around the world, you're probably not far from an example of what is, in all likelihood, the most common graffiti subject in history.

You know the one. An elongated upright shape accompanied by two circles at the base of the shaft. Perhaps adorned with a line near the tip or a few scraggly additions rooted in the orbs. Easy to draw in haste. Juvenile. Universal.

It's a classic, all right, even if Ad Nut can't really understand the fascination you humans have with what is, after all, common anatomy. 

In Chile, McCann Santiago has decided to use these ubiquitous phallic symbols as free sites for an out-of-home message that urges testicle-havers to examine their gonads on a regular basis for evidence of possible tumors. The agency has simply mounted brilliantly designed stickers atop examples of the symbol found around that fine city, and posted the results on Instagram.   

"Touch, repeat, check," the stickers advise, along with the name of the client organisation, the National Cancer Institute, and a URL for the 'Graffitesti' website. There's also an Instagram filter that lets people digitally affix the sticker to any rendition of the 'twig and berries' that they happen to come across. The action is timed to coincide with April, which is known as testicular-cancer awareness month.

There. Ad Nut made it through this whole writeup without once mentioning nuts. Because Ad Nut is a dignified author. Ad Nut cares about eliminating testicular cancer, to be sure. But the only nuts Ad Nut really likes to talk about are the kind you put in your mouth.

Wait! Please allow Ad Nut to rephrase that. The only nuts Ad Nut likes to talk about are the ones that both humans and squirrels ingest for the purposes of nutrition. (Phew, dignity maintained!)

CREDITS

Agency: McCann Santiago
CCO: Jose Ignacio Solari
Creative Director: Felipe Abufhele
Creative Editor: Alexis Huenchullán
Art Director: Diego Ramirez
Digital Designer: Antonella Orozco
Audiovisual Director: Francisco Recabarren
Production Company: Action Films

Ad Nut is a surprisingly literate woodland creature that for unknown reasons has an unhealthy obsession with advertising. Ad Nut gathers ads from all over Asia and the world for your viewing pleasure, because Ad Nut loves you. You can also check out Ad Nut's Advertising Hall of Fame, or read about Ad Nut's strange obsession with 'murderous beasts'.