Today, February 4^th, is World Cancer Day. This World Cancer Day, Cancer Research UK are calling on everyone to help raise money for their vital work and life-saving research so they may continue to save and support more lives in the UK and around the world. In light of World Cancer Day, MTP is looking back on some of our most successful and powerful public health and police campaigns to date. These campaigns play a vital role in helping to raise public awareness and save and protect lives. Whether engaging creatively and sensitively with often taboo and uncomfortable subjects, providing important information and seeking to educate or inform, or offering a virtual hand of support to empower individuals to act, public adwareness plays a powerful role in society. Here are some of those ads we’re proud to put our name to.

Flower, the Scottish Government

This taboo-smashing film was released for the Scottish Government and NHS Scotland in 2017. This ad, released to raise awareness around the importance of cervical screening, encourages women to “stop fannying around” and attend their routine smear tests. Using computer generated modelling and live photography, this ad confronts one of the main barriers proven to put women off their routine screenings – embarrassment, whilst underlining the importance of regular routine screenings in helping to “nip cancer in the bud”. The results speak for themselves. After the campaign, an increase in 40,000 women went for a smear test. The power of adwareness.

We Are Survivors, the Scottish Government

The message from this 2018 spot is simple. Scottish people have ‘survived paddling in the North Sea, endless years of terrible Hogmanay shows, rain that would have scared Noah, watching Scotland play football’…‘If we can survive all that, we can survive cancer’. Part of the Scottish Government’s Detect Cancer Early campaign, this spot seeks to reduce the fear surrounding cancer and empower people to get checked earlier, to improve their chances of survival. Weaving in director Guy Paterson’s signature comic style, this busy shoot, filmed in multiple locations, was a windy and chilly one. Despite the nippy North Sea, all the actors, each one personally connected to someone who had experienced cancer, were happy to brave the cold in order to help raise awareness for cancer. Never far removed from an emotional story during downtime, this truly was an emotional and powerful shoot.

Organ Donation, the Scottish Government

MTP has collaborated many time with the Scottish Government to create public health campaigns. Our latest for Organ Donation, released in 2021, details the changes to the organ and tissue donation law that come into effect on 26th March 2021, and highlights the importance of making a decision and sharing it with family. This ambitious technical ad, directed by Charlie Thorne, was shot during lockdown under tight COVID-19 restrictions, whilst filming all four scenarios in different locations in just one day. The camera move took two days of rehearsals to get it developed so it was bang on every time!

Stop it Now!, Police Scotland

In 2020, Police Scotland launched the #GetHelpOrGetCaught campaign, as part of a prevention strategy to tackle child sexual abuse. This campaign targets those who feel they may be at risk of committing an offence. For those concerned about their thoughts or actions, this campaign seeks to stop perpetrators from committing an offence by encouraging them to seek help at the confidential support service Stop It Now! Scotland. This ad was directed by Ewan Stewart, who worked sensitively with the youngest star of the cast for her very first shoot. As always a people’s director, Ewan created an important piece of performance-led storytelling.

3 Points, Cycling Scotland

3 Points was released in 2019 on behalf of Cycling Scotland as part of the national campaign, Give Cycle Space. This ad reminds drivers to leave plenty of space when overtaking cyclists, or risk 3 points on their license for close-passing. With more than a third of people in Scotland failing to leave 1.5 metres when overtaking cyclists, this ad addresses the importance of giving cycle space. Safety being paramount during the shoot, we called in a crowd of stunt performers. With the roads closed, we got to work with stunt drivers, cyclists and coordinators, while using a Black Magic pocket cam rigged to the bicycles, bringing action-packed authenticity to every shot.