Northamptonshire NHS by navy&grey

The NHS is targeted with testing a high percentage of 16 - 24 year olds for STI's, the most common of which is Chlamydia. Now, with a target audience of this age, and the sensitivity of the issue, the approach to the content of the message, and the execution is key. The commercial shouldn't be preachy, and it should not take the issue lightly. This can be a bit of a task.

We also had to deal with some restrictions. The commercial needed to be non-offensive to people outside of the target market, and to top it all off, through no fault of the NHS, we were asked not to mention Chlamydia in the copy. In short we needed to write and produce an ad about Chlamydia, without mentioning Chlamydia.

To achieve this, we stripped the commercial back to a very simple style, and used two voices to deliver the message. We also stayed honest around the restrictions, keeping the copy very direct and simply replacing potentially offensive words with sound effects. The result is a commercial that doesn't take itself too seriously, but tackles a serious issue.

Using effects to replace words is a simple device, but used carefully and in the right context, solved a number of problems for us. It allowed us to play with the potentially offensive nature of the subject matter without being explicit, creating both engagement for the target audience and protection for those potentially offended by the content. And more importantly, it dealt with the potential for the commercial to be rendered ineffective by the restrictions placed on the creative, causing the audience to listen more intently, hoping to decipher what the original words actually were. Turning potentially passive listeners, into active ones.