Edgy mumps ad designed to shock
February 4, 2009
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Donovan Vincent
STAFF REPORTER
One might say Ontario's health ministry is showing a lot of balls with its latest awareness campaign about getting a mumps vaccination.
A public service ad posted on YouTube this past weekend depicts a man unzipping his pants and showing his, well, swollen parts to shocked players of his hockey team.
There is no nudity.
The theme is that mumps is back and it can cause more than just your face to swell. Other complications can include painful swelling of the testicles in teenage boys and men, or the ovaries in women and girls, and deafness.
The YouTube commercial is one of two the ministry has posted on the subject as part of a campaign to get young adults to ensure they're fully vaccinated.
It shows a man doubled over in pain, standing in a dressing room in street clothes. He's inside a large plastic bubble, which represents the nine days in isolation typically required after being diagnosed with mumps.
"You missed the game,'' says one of two players in hockey gear sitting on a bench in front of him.
The man in pain says: "I don't feel so good. Take a look at these."
There's a loud noise, and then the man seated yells out in horror, "Evil balls, put them away!"
The picture cuts to the words: "If they're painful and swollen it could be mumps."
A separate video that's also part of the campaign has milder subject matter, but both are getting hundreds of hits.
Ministry officials cleared the videos, a spokesperson said yesterday.
Mark Nesbitt admitted some people might be surprised the ministry is behind the edgy testicle ad, but he said the point was to grab the attention of the 18 to 35 age group.
Local public health officials and the ministry are working in concert to provide vaccinations at college and university campuses. It's believed four out of five young adults are not fully protected against mumps, a contagious viral infection.
Mumps has made a comeback in recent years. At one time it was down to 13 to 20 cases per year across the province, but there were 53 cases in 2007 and 329 last year, including an outbreak in Oxford County, near London, Ont.
The video can be viewed at www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZPEUFsTu3E.
Toronto Star
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