Curious Poster Is Designed To ‘Catch’ Lung Cancer To Help Recognize Symptoms

In honor of Lung Cancer Awareness Month, the Marie Keating Foundation has unveiled a new campaign aimed at highlighting early symptoms of the disease, so more people will take the initiative to get assessed before it’s too late. 

The foundation has joined The Brill Building with creative agency PML Group to create a poster—dubbed the “first” to “catch lung cancer”—which only reveals itself when it hears passersby cough, hoping to reach potential sufferers in the most prominent way possible. 

According to LBB Online, lung cancer is the leading cause of death in Ireland, with only 20% of patients living beyond five years of their diagnosis. However, with earlier detection and better treatment, many countries in Europe have seen an improvement in how the ailment is dealt with. 

As such, to petition for a health check trial in the country, the foundation’s Big Check Up campaign calls upon the authorities to commit to improving survival rates and reducing the number of lives lost to lung cancer. 

Intelligently, the special posters have been put up in areas in the nation with the highest rates and risk of lung cancer, so it can catch those presenting symptoms—such as a long-term cough—before something more serious occurs. 

“If you need intervention and you don’t get it checked, then you’ll die,” is the hard-hitting message behind the entire initiative, and for good reason. 

Dr Jarushka Naidoo, a consultant oncologist at Beaumont RCSI Cancer Centre, says early detection and diagnosis can save lives, and give patients precious time with their loved ones. Not to mention, there’s a better chance of successful treatment. 

Echoing the sentiment, Peter Snodden, Creative Director at The Brill Building, explains the campaign is an “important intervention” in the fight against lung cancer, and that reaching just one person at risk could save a life.

Take a look at the poster in action below. 

[via LBB Online and Marie Keating Foundation, cover image via Marie Keating Foundation]