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Deadpool saved lives. Not just in the movies, but in reality. And all of that was due to a series of public service announcements talking about cancer. The initial, and arguably most successful, cancer PSA was uploaded in January 2016, a few weeks before the release of the first Deadpool movie. Cheekily titled "Touch Yourself Tonight", the PSA reminded men to spend time with their 'boys' in order to help detect signs of testicular cancer.
"Gentleman, how well do you know your happy sack?", Deadpool said in the ad.
The hilarious ad garnered over a hundred million views and did wonders to promote the movie that Hollywood simply wasn't sure of. This was, of course, prior to Fox's merger with Disney, Deadpool joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or proving that an R-rated superhero movie could find a massive audience.
But more importantly, the PSA got young men to take testicular cancer seriously. According to an oral history conducted by MEL Magazine, it literally saved the lives of young men who otherwise had no clue they had cancer. As they learned in the ad, if detected early enough, testicular cancer is very treatable. The 2016 ad also started a series of other cancer-related PSAs including one that had Ryan auctioning off a pink Deadpool outfit.
Here is the origin of the remarkably successful and important Deadpool cancer PSA...
The Origin of The Deadpool Cancer PSA
In the oral history of the Deadpool PSA by MEL Magazine, Graham Hawkey-Smith, the CEO of Feref Limited, an advertising agency hired to work with the Fox marketing team, explained they came up with the "Touch Yourself Tonight" idea. Given Deadpool's R-rating, a unique feature in the superhero genre at the time, the marketing team could venture into previously unexplored territories.
"The initial idea for the PSA came from our executive creative director at the time, Chris Kinsella," Graham explained. "He was drawn to the line in the trailer where Deadpool says, 'I’m t**ching myself tonight.' Chris said, 'I wonder where we can go with that?'"
Chris Kinsella, former Executive Creative Director at Feref: I think we actually came up with the idea first, and then that line, “touch yourself tonight” was just the perfect way to promote it.
"Fox had been a client forever, and when they came to us with Deadpool, it was a real gift. Deadpool is self-aware, he can break the fourth wall, he’s ironic as f***, he’s foul-mouthed, and yet, he’s also got a heart," Chris Kinsella, the former Executive Creative Director at Feref, said to MEL Magazine. "Putting all that together, it allowed us to do a kind of ironically sincere thing with the character and use him for a good cause."
Why The Deadpool Marketing Campaign Was Focused On Cancer
There were two main reasons why Feref and the rest of the Deadpool marketing team focused on cancer. They could've picked any disease for a PSA that would simultaneously promote the film and raise awareness for an important cause. But cancer made sense because Deadpool himself had it.
- Deadpool is diagnosed with liver, lung, prostate, and brain cancer in the movie as well as in the comics.
"There’s a reason why I gave Deadpool cancer when I assumed full responsibility for writing him [in 1994]," Deadpool co-creator Fabian Nicieza explained.
"I considered, 'What would make a person risk becoming a monster?' The answer was: 'It was the only way they had to save their own life.' My mother-in-law had passed away from cancer a couple years earlier, and I thought of conversations we’d had and what she said she would have sacrificed just for a chance to survive," Fabian continued. "I applied that to Deadpool — the very thing that cured him is what cost him his humanity. It was the perfect way to build a backstory that allowed Deadpool to work in the way I thought most unique: a blending of Bugs Bunny and Frankenstein’s Monster."
As for why testicular cancer was chosen above all other cancers, well... according to Chris Kinsella it was purely because balls are funny. But both Fox and the Cancer awareness people saw another benefit of talking about testicular cancer.
Testicular cancer is most prevalent in men between the ages of 15 and 35... which also happened to be the main demographic of the film's audience.
The choice proved both beneficial for Fox, who got over 100 million views on Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, and Instagram, as well as for countless men who listened to Deadpool's advice to check themselves for new lumps.
One such man was Rishiel Gudka. According to MEL Magazine, the life-long Deadpool fan had never checked himself prior to seeing the "Touch Yourself Tonight" PSA. The moment he did, he found a lump.
"I was 26, which is right in the age range for getting it, so I went to my GP and they had a loo," Rishiel explained. "I found the lump in February, 2016 and had my surgery in May to remove my testicle. It was early — just stage one — so I didn’t need any chemotherapy afterwards. That was six years ago, and I’ve been clear since. I really do think that movie saved my life. Without it, I don’t know when I would have found that lump, or if I would have at all."
And Rishiel was just one of many with the same experience.
The Deadpool marketing team went on to provide a few more cancer-related PSAs, including ones that targeted women and ultimately saved their lives as well.
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