Working on a campaign where I get to say “balls” several times a day even in front of the boss

I started off the week talking about scrotum, so it only seemed apropos to end the week with a matching book end. Yes, I’m still talking balls.

This PSA from Ontario’s Ministry of Long-Term Health Care was my first major social media campaign. I dabbled in the sphere when I worked at Saint Elizabeth Health Care, but not like this. With this campaign, I had my fingers in there every day and was involved in all aspects.

One of the winning aspects of this campaign was the MOHLTC’s open-mindedness. Bear in mind, this is a PSA for a catch-up mumps vaccination – pretty dry stuff – and from what we know about PSAs (zzzzzzzz) – they’re boring and preachy. Here, there’s comedy, sports and naughtiness — “Evil balls…why am I looking at your balls?” The overall reaction from most viewers was amazement that this was a government PSA.

It was exciting to see the campaign grow from a Facebook group to a YouTube sensation. Hits grew to 65,000 in a few short months and won a spot on the Huffington Post’s Top Weird PSAs list. Every week, I would gather the insights from YouTube and Facebook, with merriment. I never realized before how much people love to say “balls” –

• Ontario: Land of insane balls
• I can smell your balls from here
• Ballz of steel

This is just a sampling of what I would report to the client — oh my! How do you rate such comments? Are they positive? neutral? The fact of the matter is, things like this get noticed and that’s how the buzz starts.

This campaign is now over, but it was an introduction I will never forget.