Cologuard’s Screen campaign was built on a clear cultural truth: adults 45+ often feel young at heart and culturally connected to the nostalgia of their youth, yet many still view colorectal cancer screening as something meant for “older people.” Our challenge was to close this perception gap and reframe screening as a normal, empowering step for people who still see themselves as active, vibrant, and not yet “old.”
The campaign insight came from the idea of being “stuck-stalgic”, a generation deeply connected to the cultural moments of the late 80s, 90s, and early 2000s and longing for simpler times. Rather than fighting this mindset, we leveraged it. Nostalgia became our creative device: a cultural alarm clock reminding audiences that owning your health is actually part of staying young.
To bring this to life, we partnered with nostalgic talent, Matthew Lillard, whose cultural relevance naturally resonated with our audience. Through comedic short-form video storytelling, the campaign transformed screening conversations from intimidating and clinical into approachable, entertaining moments native to social media.
Our goals were designed to align both business outcomes and cultural impact:
By blending humor, nostalgia, and clear product education, the campaign sought to shift behavior by first shifting perception - proving that preventative healthcare messaging can be both culturally relevant and genuinely enjoyable to watch.
The Screen campaign began with a strategic tension: audiences love being scared for entertainment, yet often avoid real conversations about health that feel emotionally uncomfortable. Our challenge was to reclaim fear using the playful tension of horror storytelling to reduce anxiety around colorectal cancer screening.
For adults 45+, avoidance is a major barrier to screening. Many still feel young at heart and don’t identify with traditional healthcare messaging, despite being at the age where screening matters most. Rather than confronting this resistance directly, we looked to culture for a way in
Timing became a core strategic decision. By launching the campaign just before Halloween, we aligned Cologuard with a seasonal moment when horror content naturally dominates social feeds and audiences actively seek out suspense and parody. Instead of interrupting entertainment, the campaign became part of it.
Casting Matthew Lillard was central to this strategy. As an iconic figure from Scream and a recognized voice within horror culture, Lillard carried instant nostalgia and credibility for Gen X and older millennials, the very audience entering screening age. At the same time, renewed attention surrounding Scream 7 gave the campaign contemporary relevance, allowing it to ride a broader wave of cultural conversation without depending on a direct film partnership.
Execution centered on a short-form horror parody designed for social-first viewing. Tension builds as Lillard hears a frightening knock at the door, only to reveal something unexpectedly ordinary: a Cologuard screening kit delivery. The creative reversal reframes fear itself — suggesting that skipping screening is actually the scarier choice.
The campaign faced several creative challenges:
What makes Screen unique is its inversion of traditional healthcare advertising logic. Instead of asking audiences to confront fear directly, it used entertainment to diffuse it. By placing preventative care inside a culturally relevant, nostalgic narrative, the campaign transformed screening from an avoided obligation into a moment audiences chose to watch and share.
The Screen campaign achieved high engagement and completion rates relative to healthcare category norms, validating the strategy of using humor and familiar pop-culture context to reduce emotional resistance. Casting Matthew Lillard created immediate relevance for adults 45+, while increased cultural attention leading into Scream 7 amplified reach and conversation organically.
Key outcomes included:
Beyond metrics, the campaign’s success lies in what it demonstrated for the category. Instead of relying on fear-based education or clinical framing, Screen used entertainment to reframe fear itself, showing that preventative healthcare messaging can participate authentically in cultural moments while maintaining trust and clarity.
By bridging nostalgia, seasonal relevance, and social-native storytelling, the campaign helped redefine what healthcare branded content can look like. It showed that culturally-led creative can drive both engagement and meaningful health conversations, setting a new benchmark for how serious topics can be communicated in modern digital media.
