M&S partners with Sir Chris Hoy to raise awareness of prostate cancer
M&S has teamed up with Olympic champion Sir Chris Hoy and Prostate Cancer UK to encourage men to take "a brief check" for prostate cancer.
M&S has teamed up with Olympic champion Sir Chris Hoy and Prostate Cancer UK to encourage men to take “a brief check” for prostate cancer.
Under the campaign, the food and fashion giant is seeking to spark a nationwide conversation on prostate cancer.
M&S and Hoy will encourage men to use Prostate Cancer UK’s online risk checker, a tool which allows men to find out their risk in 30 seconds and learn what they can do about it.
The retailer will use its stores, website and social channels to drive the conversation, with QR codes being rolled out to all of its clothing and home stores at point of sale and fitting rooms, as well as on the product listing pages of men’s Autograph underwear on its website.
The company will donate £4 per pack of all men’s Autograph underwear, excluding vests and socks, to the charity until the end of March, coinciding with Prostate Cancer Awareness month.
With one in eight men to get prostate cancer, and the risk being double for black men, the supermarket is calling on men and the women in their lives to play a role in the conversation.
At the end of January, the charity revealed prostate cancer was now England’s most common form of cancer, with cases rising by a quarter between 2019 and 2023. However, it is the only major cancer without a screening programme.
Over 3m men have used the tool since its launch in 2022, according to the retailer.
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After being diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer in September 2023 without any symptoms, 286,000 used the risk checker tool in the two months following Hoy going public with his diagnosis.
Hoy said: “When M&S approached me, this campaign felt like a no brainer, I really believe that together, we can make a difference.
“It’s amazing to know that we’re going to raise vital funds for groundbreaking research into prostate cancer – but on top of that, we have the platform and opportunity to break the stigma and talk about it.
“As men, we know we can be pretty poor at putting our health to the top of our priorities and are reluctant to talk about it, but prostate cancer often has no symptoms.
“Therefore, one simple check, really can save lives. So, my ask to everyone is to spark a conversation and check, mate.”
The partnership comes after M&S teamed up with Breast Cancer Now in February 2023 to raise awareness of the condition in its fitting rooms.
The retailer rolled out signage to more than 1,500 fitting rooms over the month with guidance on the signs and symptoms of breast cancer.
Aldi also recently revealed it had raised £11m for Teenage Cancer Trust since partnering with the charity in 2017.
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