Early detection of testicular cancer: sexism debate about health insurance companies

A young woman is in the shower when the doorbell rings.

Wearing only a towel, she opens the door, and there stands a young man who introduces himself as her new neighbor.

She invites him in "for a couple of drinks," and they immediately kiss on the couch.

But if you think you know how the clip ends, you're wrong: the video stops at this point - and in the next scene the young woman explains on a model how men can check themselves for possible signs of testicular cancer.

The clip, based on porn, comes from the Techniker Krankenkasse and is intended to help improve the early detection of testicular cancer.

The educational clip with porn actress Anny Aurora met with mixed reactions on the Internet.

"Sexist and not funny," she calls author Tara-Louise Wittwer on Instagram, other users complain that even the topic of cancer is now being sexualized.

"The video reveals how little we trust men," writes another user on Twitter.

The Pinkstinks platform, which campaigns for gender equality, complains on Twitter: "This picture meets the cliché of the constantly smiling & slightly crazy man."

Others, on the other hand, defended the video, including the FDP politician Konstantin Kuhle: “Instead of ranting in a narrow-minded, narrow-minded way about the successful testicular cancer education of the Techniker Krankenkasse, we should give them full responsibility for advertising the corona vaccination!

Good job," Kuhle wrote in a tweet.

On YouTube, there are also numerous positive reactions from men under the video and at most the actors were criticized: "Great, that's how you draw attention to a topic.

A bit woody in acting and editing maybe, but I would never have watched a boring standard commercial in its entirety," commented one user.

The TK itself also expressed itself in a statement: "We would like to make one thing clear in advance: diversity, equality and respectful cooperation are very important to us." They "consciously chose an unusual approach and placed the information about it in a pornographic environment." However, this statement also caused a stir.

One user, for example, wrote on Instagram: "This statement only makes it worse!"

Testicular cancer is the most common cancer in young men

Whether “sexist” or “well done”: the TK clip definitely drew attention.

Two days after publication, the clip already had more than 108,000 views on YouTube.

An educational video from the AOK did not even reach 8,000 viewers last summer.

For young girls, learning to feel their breasts is a part of their first visit to the gynecologist.

In this way, they should be able to recognize on their own responsibility as early as possible when there are changes in the breast tissue which, in the worst case, could be the result of a malignant tumor.

Young men, on the other hand, have the feeling that they have nothing to do with the topic of cancer.

According to the German Cancer Society, testicular cancer is the most common cancer in young men.

It is rare, accounting for 1.6 percent of all cancers, but it has been increasing in recent years.

So far, one can only speculate about the reasons for this increase.

In addition to genetic factors, diet may also play an important role, it is said.

Similar to breast cancer, the same applies to testicular cancer: the earlier it is treated, the better the chances of recovery.

And the same applies: the person affected can discover the disease early on by feeling for irregularities and changes.

Well thought out, mediocre implementation - despite all the criticism, one must not forget: It is important that men are made aware of this clinical picture.

If the cancer is not discovered early, it can spread to the epididymis and vas deferens.

In around 95 percent of men, testicular cancer initially only occurs in one testicle and is then still easily treatable.

The causes of testicular cancer have not yet been clearly clarified.

Like a genetic predisposition, undescended testicles in childhood can be a risk factor.

Testicular cancer does not initially cause any strong symptoms, it usually manifests itself as painless changes in the testicles, which men can feel.

These include painless hardening, swelling in the testicles, a feeling of heaviness or pulling in the testicles or groin.

But changes or pain in the breast nozzles can also be a symptom.

If a man discovers such changes in himself, he should consult a family doctor or urologist.

If detected early, the first step in therapy is usually surgical removal of the diseased testicle.

According to experts, more than 90 percent of the affected men can be completely cured.

Second video version with live object

If you would like to be shown what correct scanning looks like on a living object, you will find what you are looking for on the porn influencer’s website.

There is a second, non-adult version of the clip - but only against proof of age and payment.

Why not let the explanatory video disguised as a porn clip run on the usual porn platforms, where the main target group is?

"We made a conscious decision not to run the campaign on pages where it is not clear how age is checked and what content they present," TK press spokesman Michael Ihly told the FAZ