Bold billboards challenge breast cancer sex taboos

UK – London streets now host provocative billboards with the message 'Cancer won't be the last thing that f*cks me', commissioned by GirlvsCancer and created by advertising agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) London. The striking campaign aims to combat stigma and misinformation around cancer and intimacy.

While Cancer Research UK statistics reveal that half of the UK population will experience cancer in their lifetime, the project also addresses the fact that more than 60% of women with cancer encounter sexual dysfunction.

The initiative, which originated in 2021 when a BBH staffer learned about sex toys designed for women with cancer, includes three short films and a series of billboards. The films feature women in different stages of their cancer journey discussing their experiences and sexual pleasure.

GirlvsCancer founder Lauren Mahon envisions expanding the conversation to dating apps in 2024, to empower those who've been through cancer to embrace pleasure and intimacy. The movement not only seeks to raise awareness but to create a growing and evolving resource for those who've experienced cancer.

In Unrefined Intimacy, we previously analysed how the visual narrative of sex and pleasure is being reset for a new era of raw, confrontational and inclusive advertising, communications and experiences.