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Musician Jah Prayzah (center) pose with members of his band after getting circumcised.

THE ‘Pinda muSmart/Ngena kuSmart/Get Smart’ male circumcision campaign won the coveted Advertising Campaign of the Year Award at the recently held Ngoma Advertising Awards.  The campaign also gained automatic entry into the prestigious 2014 Loerie advertising awards to be held in South Africa this year. The Campaign of the Year is awarded to the campaign that was the most effective and creative in Zimbabwe for the year.   Presenting the award to PSI and its advertising agency Jericho, the judges noted that the male circumcision campaign was a “brave campaign for a difficult product…”

The campaign which launched in October 2013 was also awarded the  Gold for Craft award for the “most outstanding individual talent” displayed in the campaign for the radio jingle “Handehandevakurunevadiki”  sung by Jah Prayzah and aRunners  Up award for the Print series of the year 2013.

PSI in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Child Care launched the celebrity campaign that featured popular musicians, disc jockeys and soccer stars to increase knowledge about male circumcision and encourage  adolescents and adult men to get circumcised.   Under the campaign theme; I did it why haven’t you? the male artists and disc jockey who had been circumcised worked to demystify male circumcision through song and messages.   Those who had not yet been circumcised had a theme I’m doing it, join meas they pledged to get circumcised in the near future. The women celebrities had the theme he did it, just for meas they encouraged men to get circumcised to show love for their partners by reducing their risk of cervical cancer.

Speaking on the awards, PSI Director of Social Marketing Mrs Kumbirai Chatora remarked; “We launched the campaign to address the key barriers of social support and debunk myths and misconceptions on male circumcision. The campaign not only targets men but also features celebrity women whose husbands are circumcised encouraging other women to support their husbands to get circumcised.  Each of the celebrities has a unique story to tell on why they got circumcised or why they plan to do so in the near future’’.

Some of the celebrities featured in the award winning advert. Top L-R: Sulumane Chimbetu, Albert Nyathi (Middle) Winky D, Fungisai Mashavave and Napoleon Nhanhi (Bottom) Jah Prayzah and Thabani Gambiza.

PSI acknowledges the effort and commitment the celebrities put into the campaign to make it a success. They helped to elevate the campaign from being just a series of adverts  to  a living testimony as three of the celebrities; popular musician- Jah Prayzah and four of his band members, soccer star- Hardlife Zvirekwi and his infant son; andrenownedpoet- Albert Nyathiand his adolescent son recently got circumcised publicly.The celebrities have gone on to recruit their colleagues from the musical industry, fans and relatives to take up male circumcision.

‘We would also like to thank the celebrities’ spouses and families who were very supportive from the onset and encouraged their partners to endorse male circumcision publicly. This is no easy feat as Zimbabwe is generally not a circumcising nation and many myths still surround the procedure’ said Chatora.