Novartis gets NFL tight ends to 'relax' over PSA tests — Cannes Pharma Grand Prix

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer and second-leading cause of cancer death among US men, yet many avoid screening: 60% wrongly believe it requires a digital rectal exam, when the first step is a PSA blood test.

The football pun 'tight end' makes prostate screening funny: NFL tight ends relax in a Super Bowl spot, reassuring men the first step is only a blood test.

Fallon wrote 'Relax, It's a Blood Test', a 60-second Super Bowl LX spot directed by Eric Wareheim via PRETTYBIRD, starring current and former NFL tight ends — George Kittle, Rob Gronkowski, Tony Gonzalez, Greg Olsen and others — plus coach and survivor Bruce Arians, all literally relaxing; behind it ran RelaxItsABloodTest.com, risk tools, NFL-team PSA screening events and Super Bowl Experience activations.

Google searches for prostate cancer PSA rose 367%, PSA tests added to online carts rose 9.8x, and the American Urological Association changed its guidelines; the campaign won the Cannes Lions 2026 Pharma Grand Prix and a Grand Clio Health 2026 for Pharmaceutical Film.

Novartis, the NFL's official pharmaceutical partner, opened Super Bowl LX with a cheeky premise: 'Relax your tight end.' The insight was research-backed — 60% of men mistakenly believe prostate cancer screening requires an invasive digital rectal exam, when the first step is a simple PSA blood test.

The 60-second spot, created by Fallon and directed by Eric Wareheim, starred current and former NFL tight ends including George Kittle, Rob Gronkowski, Tony Gonzalez and Greg Olsen, alongside Super Bowl-winning coach Bruce Arians, a prostate cancer survivor who credits early detection with saving his life.

Behind the humour sat a real access program: RelaxItsABloodTest.com, risk assessment tools, PSA screening events with NFL teams and on-site activation at the Super Bowl Experience. Google searches for prostate cancer PSA rose 367%, PSA tests added to online carts rose 9.8x, and the American Urological Association changed its guidelines.

The 'tight end' pun let a scary health topic open with laughter, the right register for a Super Bowl audience.

Real players in real jerseys gave the message credibility and made the NFL partnership tangible.

The campaign attacked the actual barrier — the misbelief about the exam — not just awareness of the disease.

Media and education extended far beyond the ad, so the joke converted into appointments, not just views.

Fear makes men avoid a test that could save them; the campaign reframed the barrier as a joke the audience already shared, then backed it with real access — screening events and an education hub.

The campaign capped Novartis's two-year Super Bowl health push — after its 2025 breast cancer spot with Hailee Steinfeld — and turned the NFL tie-up into a recurring platform. At Cannes Lions 2026 it won the Pharma Grand Prix and a Grand Clio Health for Pharmaceutical Film, with juries praising humour that opened the door to early detection rather than selling a product.