In order to raise awareness of colon cancer screening, the Yakima Health District used grant money to run a billboard campaign. While the creative could have been better aesthetically-speaking, the concept is effective. Instead of scaring viewers with some cold hard statistics, they lightened the mood with a little humor. Having some extra grant money left over, Yakima wanted to expand the campaign to nearby Benton Franklin Health District who approved it and then promptly rejected it the next day citing several complaints from residents that the ads were in poor taste. To be exact, it was 10 complaints.
Really? An ad that changes the perception of an extremely important and beneficial medical screening from scary to not-so-bad-maybe-even-funny is in poor taste? Someone needs to give the Benton Franklin County Commissioners a lesson in advertising.
