A new campaign for Breast Cancer Awareness Month uses a word-association framework and nostalgic pop-culture references to remind women of the importance of regular screening.

Developed by Edmonton-based Berlin Communications, the OOH and social-led campaign is the agency’s second annual breast-cancer awareness effort for the Alberta Cancer Foundation, the Alberta Society of Radiologists and Primary Care Alberta.

The cheekily named “Venn Mammograms” feature overlapping, seemingly random, words or phrases – for example, Kapowski-Morris, Sporty-Scary, Citrus Fruit-Free Music – to create a guessing game. The idea being, if you understand the words’ pop-culture connections – Saved by the Bell, Spice Girls, Limewire – you’re probably in the age group that should be prioritizing breast-cancer screening.

“We want women to feel confident being their own health advocate – to know that booking that mammogram is just as important as all the other things they do to look after themselves,” says Amanda Davison, CEO of the Alberta Society of Radiologists. “By leaning into humour, nostalgia, and familiar cultural cues, we’re changing the conversation into something that’s more approachable – and even a little fun.”

The campaign includes placements at Edmonton’s Rogers Place during concerts that resonate with the target demographic, such as Cuddy-Keelor (Blue Rodeo) and Lilith Fair-Sweet Surrender (Sarah McLachlan). Berlin also created radio spots that swap diagrams for fill-in-the-blank lyrics, like “I get knocked down, but I get up again, you’re never gonna keep … .”

Venn Mammogram T-shirts were distributed and designed specifically for Alberta celebrities and influencers, including Elisha Cuthbert, Tricia Helfer, Feist and more, in hope they would help spread the campaign’s message.

“With so many provocative breast-cancer ads done by different organizations over the years, the life-saving message can get lost in their ubiquity,” Berlin creative director Pierre Chan said. “So, instead of just sharing data or showing breasts, we merged the two.”

Behind the lighthearted approach is an urgent message: One in seven women in Alberta will face breast cancer in their lifetime, but fewer than half of those aged 45 to 50 are regularly screened. Regular screening dramatically increases the chance of detecting breast cancer early, when it’s most treatable.

“Awareness on its own isn’t enough – women also need reminders to own their health,” said Mariko Macken, director or marketing and communications at Alberta Cancer Foundation. “If a lyric, a fun nostalgic reference or even a cheeky arena ad sparks a conversation and nudges someone to book a mammogram, we’ve shown how creativity can keep screening front of mind.”

The campaign launched on Monday and will run throughout October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month to direct Albertans to screeningforlife.ca/breast for eligibility information and resources.

Earlier this month, Berlin leaned into humour to develop the Alberta Forest Products Association’s “Two Things at Once” campaign, an industry-awareness effort aimed at the province’s young urbanites.