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American Morning
Sometimes Best Way to Get a Message Across is With a Punchline
Aired January 30, 2002 - 08:37 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: It is definitely no laughing matter. Colon cancer is the second deadliest cancer in the United States today. Sometimes the best way to get a message across is with a punchline, and that is why a new awareness campaign announced just this week by the American Cancer Society and the Advertising Council will use some humor to encourage people to get tested.
CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us now on our set for the first time ever.
Jack, and I and Anderson are so happy to have you with us. We usually communicate by remote.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: This is much better, much better.
ZAHN: Good to see you, too.
Everyone's been laughing this morning. That dog is hysterical. Now colon cancer we usually don't think about as being hysterical. However, when you see these new public service announcements from the American Cancer Society, you will probably soon change your mind. They star none other than "Polyp Man." I'm sure he'll be a household word soon. Let's take a look at Polyp Man.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, this used to be a good neighborhood. Now it's a mess. You got all these polyps running around.
ANNOUNCER: Colon cancer almost always starts with a polyp. Get the polyp early and stop colon cancer before it even starts.
Where do you think you were running to?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't even see you guys there.
ANNOUNCER: Get the test. Get the polyp.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to talk to my lawyer!
ANNOUNCER: Get the cure.
(END VIDEO CLIP) COHEN: The polyp was yelling, "I want to talk to my lawyer" in case you couldn't hear that over our laughter.
ZAHN: That is going to work. When else would you be talking about a polyp related to an ad campaign?
COHEN: Exactly. It's a radical departure from what they've done in the past. In the past, they've tried to scare people into getting testing for colon cancer. They used all these images of graveyards, for example. There are ads from the 1990s when you see graveyards, and here's one, they're waiting there, and then this thing is going to rise up from the grave, and they said, well, we'll just scare people into getting tested, because it's so important to get tested for colon cancer, because it's so preventable if you catch it early.
But what they decided to do, they said those didn't work. They tried them for a couple of years. People didn't like them, they didn't respond, they didn't get tested. They said, let's try polyp man. Let's see another polyp man PSA.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The biopsy proved to be a tubular...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a polyp! Why doesn't he just come right out and say it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, do you mind?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look in your textbook.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got one.
ANNOUNCER: Stopping colon cancer is simple. Get the polyp early and stop colon cancer before it even starts. Just get the test. Get the polyp. Get the cure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COHEN: My favorite part of that is when he's yelling, "Attica, Attica!" And yells back to the girl, "I'll get your number, I'll call you! I'll call you!" But of course that polyp will be in jail.
The ACS planning on releasing these in the next month or so.
ZAHN: So I guess my question is, because those of us who are very involved in cancer work have always debated what is the best way to get the message out to the public about the benefits of early protection. How do they know this is going to work? How do you measure that?
COHEN: Well, the Cancer Society doesn't know for sure, but they figured, hey, we tried fear, we tried graveyard scenes, that didn't work, so we'll try this. So what they're going to do is they're going to measure it very carefully. They're going to run them in certain markets, and then they're going to try to measure. They're going to first see, did people get it? Did people get the whole concept that polyps are bad and you want to get tests to see if you have polyps, and then get them removed.
And what real gold standard here is, did people actually go to get a test? Because the numbers are scary. Only 44 percent of Americans over the age of 50 get tested, and all of them are supposed to get tested. And the Cancer Society estimates that if everyone got tested over age 50, deaths would be cut in half. It's a big wow. It's so preventable, but people just don't like the whole thought of it, they don't want to do it, and so they don't.
ZAHN: Let's ask jack a very personal question now. Have you had a colonoscopy?
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: No.
ZAHN: You never have? I've had a number of them. And you know what, it sounds much worse than it actually is. It's not that big of a deal. The preparation is worse than the test itself, but the fact is once again if you catch these polyps, sometimes they're early indicators of cancer, and all you have to think about is Mr. Polyp Man, torturing him!
CAFFERTY: Who is that guy? It looks like the fellow from "Saturday Night Live?" Is it, the guy who plays the Polyp in those commercials? What's his name?
COHEN: I don't know.
ZAHN: Isn't he great? Isn't he a riot?
COHEN: I will track down Polyp Man. I don't know if he'll fit in the chair, though.
CAFFERTY: What a thing to put on your resume. What have you done? Well, I was polyp.
ZAHN: I helped save lives would be the better...
CAFFERTY: I'm going get that test done. My doctor's on my case.
ZAHN: Yes, you should, Jack.
CAFFERTY: I will. I have to take a month off.
ZAHN: You only have to take three hours off. It's no big deal.
CAFFERTY: I'm going to take month off.
On to Wall Street.
Nice have you with us, by the way. Those are great spots.
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