CHECK YOUR TACKLE, MATE
Loaded teams up with Tackle Prostate Cancer to get blokes talking about slow flow, Razor Ruddock, and why ignoring your bits is a terrible plan
Let’s be honest, most blokes would rather talk about literally anything else than what’s going on downstairs. Football? Fine. Pints? Always. That weird noise your car’s been making for three years? Go on then. But your prostate? Nah… “I’m sure it’s nothing.”
Yeah. About that.
For Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, Loaded teamed up with Tackle Prostate Cancer, the UK’s leading charity in peer support, to drag that conversation out of the shadows and into, of all places… motorway service station loos.
And before you roll your eyes, this is actually where it hits hardest. Because when nature calls, you’re standing there anyway. Might as well read something that could save your life.
THE FACTS (NO B.S., JUST REALITY)
Here’s the bit most men don’t know—or choose not to think about:
- Prostate cancer is the most common major cancer in UK men
- Over 50,000 men are diagnosed every year
- Around 12,000 die from it annually
That’s not rare. That’s not “someone else’s problem.” That’s everywhere.
And here’s the kicker: loads of men either don’t spot the signs or brush them off as “just getting older.”
SLOW FLOW ISN’T JUST AGE
One of the biggest warning signs being highlighted in this campaign is something most blokes joke about:
Taking ages to have a piss.
We’re talking:
- Standing there longer than you should
- Weak stream
- That annoying “still not done” feeling
The campaign calls it “slow flow”, and if it’s taking you a minute or more to empty your bladder, it’s time to stop pretending it’s nothing.
No panic. No drama. Just… get it checked.
A simple PSA blood test via your GP can be the difference between catching something early or finding out too late.
ENTER RAZOR – THE HARDCUT STRAIGHT TALKER
Backing the campaign is none other than Neil Ruddock, aka Razor, former Liverpool and Spurs hardman, and a proper 90s icon.
Which is exactly the point.
The campaign is aimed squarely at blokes now in their 40s and 50s, the same lads who were reading Loaded in their 20s, living fast, not thinking about consequences, and definitely not talking about their health.
Razor puts it simply:
"If something’s not right, don’t ignore it."
No preaching. Just common sense from a bloke who knows his tackle.