With a large portion of people aged 45 and older prone to putting off or completely avoiding recommended colon cancer screenings, Exact Sciences is pitching its noninvasive at-home Cologuard test as a way to “skip the drama.”
That’s the thesis of a new campaign from the company that went live this month, centering around a pair of commercials that play into the dramatics of popular TV shows to show how Exact’s test kit is comparatively drama-free.
One of the 30-second spots taps into the intensity of hit shows like “Game of Thrones.” It starts with a medieval royal preparing to go to war in the name of colorectal cancer screening, declaring, “Today, I chooseth how to screeneth for colon cancer.”
Though he’s prepared to lay down his life for the cause, a modern-day doctor steps in, offering a Cologuard prescription to preclude an all-out battle. The test kit arrives at the castle’s front doors and is placed by a chamber pot, after which Little C.G., Exact’s anthropomorphic Cologuard box mascot, is knighted by the grateful king.
The other ad capitalizes on a very different but no less dramatic realm of television: reality TV. It opens on an escalating poolside confrontation between two women, with one calling out the other for being over 45 and not up to date on her colon cancer screenings. In a classically catty side interview, the first woman spills, “We all knew—this is, like, the third year she’s turned 44.”
As the second woman protests, a doctor once again steps in to de-escalate the situation. Floating in the pool next to Little C.G., he highlights the noninvasive nature of Cologuard, urging wary patients to ask their doctors for the at-home test.

Both of the commercials went live during the NFL playoffs earlier this month.
Jeremy Truxal, Exact’s VP of screening marketing, told Fierce Pharma Marketing via email that the “Skip the Drama” campaign is “the next step in our creative evolution.”
“We’ve been driving empowerment with consumers, and with the campaign, we’re bringing some careful humor to a topic that can be intimidating or uncomfortable,” he said.
The campaign is specifically intended to battle rising colon cancer rates in people under the age of 50; recent studies have shown diagnoses growing 50% in that group over the last 30 years, with colon cancer predicted to become the leading cause of cancer deaths in the under-50 set by 2030.
Meanwhile, per the American Cancer Society, at least one in every three adults aged 45 and older is still not undergoing regular recommended screenings.
“We wanted to use cultural touchpoints and light humor to drive awareness so those 45+ and at average risk can prioritize screening with the Cologuard test,” Truxal added. “The spots address some of the barriers people might face—in a tongue-in-cheek way—and provide a reminder that with the Cologuard test, they can provide a sample at home with no prep and ship it off for results.”