Elaine C Smith stars in Scottish Government breast cancer campaign created by The Leith Agency

Developed by The Leith Agency (Guy Vickerstaff, Head of Art & Phil Evans, Copywriter), directed by Alex Telfer and produced by MTP, the television adverts uses pictures of real women’s breasts with visible early signs of breast cancer.

Jill Walker, senior marketing manager, Scottish Government said, “This is a bold campaign, visually ground-breaking and aims to get women to recognise the signs to look out for.

“Breast cancer touches many lives and can be scary, you’re five times more likely to survive if it’s caught in its earliest stage – this campaign aims to move people to get checked by their GP early”.

The breast cancer campaign is part of the Scottish Government’s £30 million Detect Cancer Early drive, which aims to increase the early detection of cancer by 25 per cent. From tonight (Tuesday 4 September) the advert will be aired post-watershed with radio, online and press advertisements also running for four weeks.

The Leith Agency’s, Phil Evans added: “The point of this campaign is to inform women of the early signs of breast cancer. Showing these respectfully and in a non-sensationalist way, while also keeping the TV regulators happy, was the first requirement. But we wanted to do more than that. We wanted woman to sit up and take note of this ad.

“So we made it look like the ad was delivered by a naked Elaine C Smith. Once we'd decided on that, it set the tone for everything else. The finished ad is stripped back and laid-bare. A straightforward but heartfelt appeal to every woman in Scotland.”