Alan Cumming Shows You Suggestive Things to Do Besides Sex in Ad Targeting the FDA

Saatchi & Saatchi uses suggestive visual humor, and deadpan delivery from actor Alan Cumming, to skewer the Food and Drug Adminstration's rules around donating blood.

At issue is a recent revision in the FDA's regulations that allows gay and bisexual men to give blood, but only if they have haven't had sex for a year. (They were previously barred entirely, based on concerns about exposure to HIV.)

With tongue firmly in cheek, Cumming introduces a series of eight nonsexual activities that are "guaranteed to make your year without sex fly by."

Among them: Apply your manual dexterity to packing powder into a Civil War musket; thrust your hips into yoga; and polish your trophies. The "Celibacy Challenge" logo also is a riot—a white lock on a pair of red briefs.

The ad points to celibacychallenge.com, where you can sign a petition.

Saatchi and Bullit director Ari Sandel created the mock PSA for Glaad and the Gay Men's Health Crisis, which want the FDA rules to be based on risk factors, not sexual orientation, and are petitioning the federal agency to make that change. The pro-bono ad, which is being distributed online via the hashtag #CelibacyChallenge, went up Thursday on YouTube.

CREDITS

Clients: Glaad Gay Men's Health Crisis

Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi, New York

Chief Creative Officer: Jay Benjamin

Creative Director, Art: Johnnie Ingram

Creative Director, Copy: Chris Skurat

Design Director: Juan Saucedo

Art Directors: Mete Erdogan, Matilda Kahl

Copywriters: Callum Spencer, Viktor Angwald                                                 

Chief Production Officer: Tanya LeSieur

Director of Content Production: John Doris

Executive Producer: Dani Stoller

Integrated Producer: Matt Micioni

Lead Creative Technologist: Steve Nowicki

Digital Strategist: Shae Carroll

Information Architects: Robert Moon, Kelly Redzack           

Head of Art Buying: Maggie Sumner

Lead Retoucher: Yan Apostolides

Proofreader: Ed Stein

Chief Marketing Officer: Christine Prins 

Talent Director: Akash Sen

Account Director: Rebecca Robertson

Associate Director, Business Development: Jamie Daigle

Account Supervisor: Carly Wallace

Project Manager: Bridget Auerbach

Production Company: Bullitt 

Director: Ari Sandel

Directors of Photography: Warren Kommers (Alan Cumming), Benjamin Kitchens (vignettes)

Executive Producer, Chief Executive Officer: Todd Makurath

Line Producer: Nathaniel Greene

Editing House: Arcade Edit

Editor: Jeff Ferruzzo

Assistant Editor: Mark Popham

Producer: Fanny Cruz

​Flame Artist: Tristian Wake

Executive Producer: Sila Soyer

Music House: Nylon

Producer: Christina Carlo

Audio: Sound Lounge

Mixer: Glen Landrum

Postproduction, Telecine: Company 3

Colorist: Tom Poole