Stick it to Hep C

We worked with the Hep C community to develop a campaign that would promote action, by raising a middle finger to show that with a simple finger prick test, you could simply find out if you'd been exposed to Hep C

The first step in reaching through to our audience would be to reach out to them. Following whakawhanaungantanga (creating time and space to build a trusting relationship), we were able to gain the confidence of a dedicated group of Hep C survivors - many of whom had never even opened up to their friends or family about their battle.

Kim Pick

Executive Creative Director, VML New Zealand

Hepatitis C is known as a silent killer, because it silently attacks the liver and because people don’t talk about it. We needed to create an action-driving, behaviour change campaign to promote action toward one simple message – get tested for Hep C. The objective was to increase testing by 30%.

‘Safe’ government health messaging didn’t get the attention of this audience – men aged 50+ and have ‘got up to some stuff’ in the past, perhaps using needles for drugs, tattoos or body piercings – or motivate them to step forward and be tested. It would take a bold stance to resonate with this audience, break the silence, and get at-risk people talking and tested.

We worked with the Hep C community to develop a campaign that would get our audience’s attention and promote action. We showed members of our target audience proudly raising their middle finger to show that with a simple finger prick test, they’d find out if they’d been exposed to Hep C.

Hepatitis C testing leaped 150%, with positive results up 1000%, showing the most at risk were responding. But bravery comes with risk. After two months, and millions of views, 19 complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority saw the ‘middle finger’ ad pulled off air. However, due to the unprecedented effectiveness of the campaign in raising awareness and testing with a hard-to-reach audience, an appeal by the health authority saw the ruling overturned, and the campaign allowed back on air ‘in the interests of natural justice.’

• Reached 89% of our target market within 2 months

• Campaign was the country’s most talked about campaign, and trended globally.

• Most importantly, test rates for Hep C in New Zealand leaped 150%. Positive tests one thousand percent higher than usual – meaning the most at-risk people were responding, and going on to have potentially life-saving treatment.

• The most searched-for campaign in New Zealand in August and September 2022