FlickerLab Hits the Funny Bone With Online Entertainment for Planned Parenthood: How Pregnancy Happens
For Immediate Release: Jan. 30, 2014
Animated PSA Launches Monday, June 13th, at https://www.PlannedParenthood.org
NEW YORK — In a national effort to educate the public, Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) is turning to the entertainment medium of online animation with How Pregnancy Happens (3:45). Created by FlickerLab, the animated short casts characters, Peter and Mina, as talk-show hosts who physically resemble anatomy. As the cool and funny couple explain how women can and cannot get pregnant, Peter sometimes swells with excitement at Mina's lucid rundown of the process.
Launching online Monday, June 13th, How Pregnancy Happens may be a seminal piece of sex education. The purposely frank piece dispels misconceptions about pregnancy, with a comedic style. In one bit, a "vagina-cam" shows goofy sperm lounging around the pool. Diving into the uterus with cries of "Bonzai!," a race begins until the egg decides on her Romeo.
FlickerLab, a New York animation and design company, transformed medical information into a cartoon concept to engage surfers on the web in the message. Says Harold Moss, director, FlickerLab, "We had pages of technical notes on pregnancy and how it happens -- there were actually a lot of things that I didn't know. The main idea was to make the information clear, but funny. Sometimes we got a little gross, but it always helped get the information across. And get a laugh, of course."
Karen Pearl, interim president, PPFA, says, "We are delighted to offer this fun and valuable resource to anyone looking for accurate information about how pregnancy happens. This engaging tool makes learning the basics entertaining, while still delivering a serious message about the pregnancy process."
Designed in 2D and Flash, How Pregnancy Happens launches on the home page of www.PlannedParenthood.org on Monday, June 13th. It can also be found as a feature in the Health Info section and on the Emergency Contraception page of the Media and Research section. Projects by FlickerLab include the animated sequence in Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine; graphics for Fahrenheit 9/11; and the broadcast design for Celebrity Poker Showdown, among others.
See: www.PlannedParenthood.org
See: www.FlickerLab.com
Visuals: www.flickerlab.com/planned_parenthood