Round 6 of 8: February 

Mehdi Lamloum.

 

EXECUTIVE Creative Director, GEOMETRY GLOBAL MALAYSIA

Born and Raised in Tunisia, I’m a Digital guy that moved to advertising to explore ideas connecting digital and activation through content and interactions.

Conceptualizer with Ogilvy Tunisia, then Regional CD for Social@Ogilvy Apac and now ECD at Geometry Global Malaysia.

Blogger, journalist, Barcamp organizer, TEDx speaker and also candidate to the first democratic election in Tunisia.

Brief: "Genetic testing"

“Use any form of communication to convince the public to be for or against genetic testing being available direct to consumers.”
— Mehdi Lamloum

Personal health and wellness became the new passion for startups in Silicon Valley a few years ago.

It started with the Quantified Self Movement and all the devices that record different personal data (heart beat, blood pressure, activity, steps, calories) then show it to you through infographics-like apps.

Some startups even took it a step further by giving people access to genetic testing with individual interpretations (like 23andMe.com)

Simply by mailing a saliva testing sample, people can have online access to ancestry related reports (where your ancestors are from) as well as health related reports that let them know if, based on their DNA, there's risk of specific diseases.

The health related reports created a big controversy, leading to them being banned in some countries.

There's two ways to look at this issue:

  1. These startups claim that it’s everyone right to know about their own DNA and possible risk of disease. They give multiple examples of people who, after seeing their DNA test results, changed their lifestyle or made radical new decisions when they knew they carried a high risk for a specific disease.
     
  2. The authorities in some countries argue that this is a medical device and thus must to go through all the necessary approvals. Also, an ethics question is raised where some argue that putting this kind of DNA related interpretation in the hands of the public -  directly through an app and without a doctor following their case - might lead to misinterpretation by people who have no idea what to do and how to react.

Over the last few years, both camps have been lobbying. Choose your side and crack the brief.

Use any form of communication to convince the public to take your side.

 

Brief Deadline: Midnight (Pacific Daylight Time) February 28th 2015