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There are a few clues straight away that this documentary-style short film isn’t your average public service announcement.
First, a diverse array of men talk earnestly—and vaguely—about what seems to be a prized possession.
“It’s an extension of myself,” says one man, while another dubs it “the only thing I give a damn about” and “a pretty big part of my life.” Yet another declares: “Nowadays when I get one, I try to hang onto it as long as possible.”
Then comedian and Saturday Night Live alum Tim Meadows pops up, followed by several doctors who share a startling statistic: Men who have had Covid-19 are six times more likely to develop erectile dysfunction.
The kicker is the tagline: #SaveTheFutureBoners.
The spot is, in fact, a PSA about getting vaccinated. It just takes a tongue-in-cheek, unconventional route to get there, with boutique agency Quality Meats forming its own council of physicians to help make the point.
The whole project, launching this week, started with that little-known stat about the frequency of erectile dysfunction after suffering from the coronavirus.
“We stumbled across this fact and thought with all the vaccine hesitancy out there, guys need to hear this, especially younger guys who think they’re not at risk but might not be thinking about the long-term effects,” Brian Siedband, the agency’s co-founder and creative director, said. “Hopefully shining a light on ‘schlong Covid’ will motivate them to reconsider.”
There’s no client, per se, though the agency initially approached a few government agencies and brands.
“We realized it would be most powerful and credible coming directly from the experts, specifically experts of the penis,” Gordy Sang, agency co-founder and creative director, said. “And knowing it’s a sensitive topic for any traditional organization, we decided to create one ourselves, contacting urologists one by one. They’re all so passionate about saving penises, it didn’t take much convincing.”
Creatives recruited Dr. Amy Pearlman, a men’s sexual health specialist, who gathered some friends and colleagues to make up the 15-person collective, which they’ve named Urologists United for Vaccine Education.
Among the group is Dr. Ranjith Ramasamy, whose research on the lingering effects of Covid-19 on the male anatomy was recently published in the World Journal of Men’s Health, and Dr. Larry Levine from Rush University, who appears in the video.
“Given all the misinformation out there, we’d rather people get facts from us, doctors who’ve devoted their lives to studying the penis,” Levine said.
Quality Meats, the Chicago-based pandemic-era startup that grabbed headlines for its viral stunt for beloved local restaurant Wiener’s Circle, is debuting the campaign, the nonprofit doctor’s group and its website in advance of National Impotency Awareness Month in November.
CREDITS:
Agency: Quality Meats
Creative Directors: Gordy Sang/Brian Siedband
Executive Producer: Kacey Hart
Account Director: David Kaplan
Account Director: Meredith Metzl
Director: Brad Morris
Production Co: The BMP Film Co.
Director of Photography: Jon Hamblin
Executive Producer: Ben Mahoney
Producer: Erin Zeller
Colorist: Matt Phillips
Audio Mixer: Tom Haigh
Editorial Co.: Cutters
Editor: Grant Gustafson
