Crude ads aim to spark chat about men's health

'I have to use the mirror to see my penis', 'I noticed blood in my poo' and 'Is it normal to pee four times in the night?' These are the confronting messages that have been slapped on ads around Auckland.

The guerilla campaign called Speak Up, was created by ad giants M&C Saatchi, in a bid to generate awareness around Men's Health Week, kicking off today.

The cheeky stickers were sneakily posted around what were considered men's health hotspots overnight, with an additional message encouraging men to talk about the issues.

"We basically combed the streets looking for outdoor posters, mannequins, billboards, roadwork signs and movie posters - basically if it had a man involved it was hijack-able media as far as we were concerned," said Dave King, CEO of M&C Saatchi.

Chairman of Men's Health, Phil Clemas, said gents are notorious for staying hushed on issues around their health.

"The statistics regarding the health of men are getting worse and now we're in a situation where every three hours a New Zealand male dies of preventable causes," he said.

He hopes this humorous approach will appeal to guys, spark discussion and maybe be shared on social media with the hashtag #MenStartTalking.

"No one wants to be lectured to, so we wanted to create a campaign that would disrupt their thinking, make them laugh, hopefully they might take a photo of it and post it on social media or show a mate in the office or over a beer. Of course the underlying message is to encourage men to speak to a mate if they have a health problem and go see a doctor for a check-up."

Look out for the hijacked ads around the CBD, Newmarket, Grey Lynn and Ponsonby.

- www.nzherald.co.nz