Dene Films

A commercial to persuade young people, to engage in a programme, to screen against the sexually transmitted infection, Chlamydia.

The NHS approached Dene Films in house creative team to develop a campaign targeted specifically at young people. The challenge was to engage the target audience in a positive way, that would not preach and would not stigmatise carriers of the infection, given that a large number of people would be unaware they are carrying it.

The idea combined the fun of a great night out, with humour that prevented the commercial adopting a preaching tone. By putting two young actors in a glamorous nightclub setting, it gave the commercial a fluid, but slightly edgy motion, with the writing style of “Hotel Baylon”.

The result of the campaign was thousands of requests for testing kits, during every week that the commercial was shown. The commercial was also adapted for use on the national Chlamydia screening web site. It was a great success.