The archive · PR & Stunts · Marketing decision · 2022
LALCEC postpones Breast Cancer Day for 13 days — mammograms jump 275%
Women kept postponing mammograms, so 30+ NGOs publicly postponed Breast Cancer Day itself — one day of awareness became 13 days of free screenings.
LALCEC
What it had to solve
In Argentina, 40% of women at risk age had failed to undergo their annual mammogram and 20% had never had one, often citing lack of time or caregiving and work responsibilities. A single International Breast Cancer Day each October was not changing that behaviour.
How it works
In Argentina, breast cancer awareness had an action problem: 40% of women at risk age had failed to undergo their annual mammogram and 20% had never had one, with many citing lack of time or caregiving and work responsibilities. A single International Breast Cancer Day every October generated conversation, but the postponed check-ups stayed postponed.
Grey Argentina's inversion was to postpone the awareness day itself. On October 19, 2022, more than 30 leading Argentine cancer NGOs — including LALCEC and MACMA — jointly announced they were postponing World Breast Cancer Day, then kept postponing it day after day until November 1. Each delayed day produced fresh news and fresh action: clinics in the Adecra+Cedim network offered hundreds of free mammograms to people without health coverage, celebrities shared stories under #NoTePostergues, and AFA's first-division clubs showed the message before matches.
The results made the case for the stunt as much as the message. Grey reported total organic, PR and influencer reach of 40,678,846 people, a 200% rise in mass-media reach over the previous year and 230% more advertising placement value at US$6,137,520. The behaviour metric moved too: LALCEC screenings rose 275% to 1,500 mammograms during the campaign window.
The work became one of the most decorated health campaigns of its year, collecting a Gold Pencil in Traditional Media Relations at The One Show 2023 and four Gold and three Silver Lions at Cannes 2023 across Direct, PR and Brand Experience. Its core device — dramatising procrastination by publicly postponing the very event meant to fight it — was widely cited as a model for turning a single awareness day into sustained action.
Why it lands
- The campaign mirrored the audience's own behaviour, so the message was demonstrated rather than merely stated.
- Each daily postponement was a new news event, letting one idea generate 13 days of earned coverage.
- Awareness converted to action: every postponed day came with free mammograms at partner clinics nationwide.
- More than 30 NGOs launched together, so each organisation amplified the message to its own followers.
- Football's first division and celebrity participation carried the issue far beyond health media.
What it did
Grey Argentina reported total organic, PR and influencer reach of 40,678,846 people, a 200% increase in mass-media reach and 230% more advertising value at US$6,137,520, while LALCEC mammograms rose 275% to 1,500 screenings. The campaign took a One Show 2023 Gold Pencil and four Gold and three Silver Lions at Cannes 2023.
What you can take
To change a postponed behaviour, mirror it in the campaign: an anti-procrastination message delivered through public procrastination turned one awareness day into two weeks of news and screenings.
Since then
The Postponed Day became a reference case for PR-led health campaigns, winning a One Show 2023 Gold Pencil and four Gold and three Silver Cannes Lions in 2023, and it established LALCEC and Grey Argentina's long-running dialogue on mammography. Grey continued the conversation with follow-up campaigns in later years, and the 2022 edition remained the benchmark its successors measured themselves against.
Sources
- The Postponed Day — LALCEC | Grey
- 30 Non-Profit Organisations in Argentina Postponed World Breast Cancer Day
- Grey: LALCEC's The Postponed Day
- Grey Argentina and Grey Latam Awarded Multiple Prizes at Cannes 2023 Festival
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