Agency: LOLA MullenLowe
Client: Libero Magazine
Sector: Media & Publications
Campaign: #TouchYourFootballs
Client Contact: Diego Barcala
Chief Creative Officer: Chacho Puebla
Executive Creative Director: Pancho Cassis
Creative Director: Tomás Ostiglia, Fabio Brigido
Head of Innovation: Fred Bosch
Creative Supervisor: Saray González, Miki Ocampo
Copywriter: Palma Llopis, Carmela Naya, Hetu Negri
Art Director: Desirée G. Valdés, Manuel Castillo, Enrique Torguet
PR Team: Sarah Okrent, Enrique Caballero
General Business Director MullenLowe Colombia: Juan Pablo García
Account Director: Laura Gerpe
Agency Producer: Flor Caputo, Diego Baltazar
Content Agency: Elis Limitada, Juan Pablo Sorín
Production Company: Los Notarios
Director: Felipe Cortés
Executive Producer: Juan Pablo Bernal, Nathalie Burnside
DOP: Juan Carlos Franco
Post Production: Free your Mind
A football magazine uses an infamous play to get men
to touch their balls
Libero calls on a football legend to encourage men to check
their testicles for cancer
Madrid, November 15th, 2017.- 70% of men never check their testicles, even though testicular cancer is the most common cancer amongst men aged 13-45*. That’s why during Movember, the Spanish football magazine Libero is using the sport to explain how to perform a self-examination and promote early detection.
In 1991, during a match between Real Madrid and Valladolid, footballer Michel Gonzalez repeatedly squeezed Carlos “El Pibe” Valderrama’s genitals as both teams waited for a corner. Libero hijacked this historic moment in football to communicate its message.
A Youtube video starring Valderrama recounts the notorious incident and goes on to explain, in three simple steps, how men can detect cancer in the testicular region. Recalling his experience in the humorous video, Valderrama can still feel the exact moment that Michel touched him and he is grateful. He would have gone to the doctor if he had felt pain, so he encourages all men to #TouchYourFootballs.
“Testicular cancer is a serious problem among men under 45, but self-examinations don´t get the attention they should. We´ve seen many football players fight against this kind of cancer and we would like to help spread the message in hopes of preventing it. Without a doubt, what happend with Valderrama is an iconic moment in Spanish football and a perfect way to explain life with football, just as our motto says: If you explain it with football, they get it,” Diego Barcala, founder of Libero Magazine.
#TouchYourFootballs is a collaboration with MullenLowe Colombia, Elis, a content agency launched by former football star Juan Pablo Sorín and Los Notarios, a leading audiovisual production company in Colombia. The campaign goes live on November 15th with the help of Valderrama and several other professional players who have suffered from testicular cancer.