He takes a direct approach to the pursuit of prostate health. He’s Branko the Prostate Czech, and he’s been wielding his latex glove to raise awareness.

The public service effort is being funded by consumer shop Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal + Partners to get people talking about the disease. A microsite and Twitter feed were launched by KBS+P September 9th with the blessing of the Prostate Cancer Foundation.

Branko, the online persona, was created by KBS+P copywriter Ash Tavassoli from the real-life Branko, a retired Czech auto worker, whom Tavassoli said he found through Craiglist.

KBS+P put Branko behind the camera for a series of videos in which he stalks real men in public places and politely, yet firmly, insists on examining their prostate. Branko, a sturdy man in a red track suit, tells a gentleman at a mall food court, “I can check your prostate here, or we can go somewhere private.”

Getting Czeched is an uncomfortable prospect, but that’s the point. Since men are less apt to discuss their health and take preventive steps than women, they needed an icebreaker, said Tavassoli, and Branko was designed to appeal to them.

“When I’m watching people play with the site, they’re laughing,” Tavassoli said, “but it’s breaking down that wall.”

Prostate cancer, the second-most common form of the disease after skin cancer, strikes only men. One in six American men get it, and it’s the second-leading cause of cancer death behind lung cancer.

The foundation says age 40 is a good time to start screening for those at highest risk. It recommends the rubber-glove examination—termed a DRE—and PSA blood-draw test. But the US Preventive Services Task Force finds current evidence insufficient to assess the risks and benefits of testing in men younger than 75.

“I think Branko and his, err, unique approach to prostate cancer awareness and screening might just break through the barriers,” said Dan Zenka, SVP of communications for the Prostate Cancer Foundation,

Branko’s microsite links to the foundation’s website and to Zenka’s blog, Mynewyorkminute.org. (Zenka was diagnosed with prostate cancer at age 51 and said he launched the blog two days later.)

While the decision to get a prostate screen is personal, the campaign suggests that discussing things with your physician is preferable to being on the business end of Branko’s glove. “There’s nothing wrong with being aware, deciding with your physician at what age—40 and onward—is right to begin screening,” said Zenka.

Added Tavassoli, “We plan on launching more Branko pieces where we get more facts out there. People need to know.”

From the November 01, 2011 Issue of MM+M - Medical Marketing and Media