Morrisons wants you to touch yourself in the shower. It might sound like a marketing gimmick but far from it – this is one of the smartest public health campaigns retail has come up with in years.

Shoppers are being encouraged to get familiar with their own bodies and look out for lumps, swelling, skin changes and unexplained bruising after the supermarket teamed up with the NHS to put cancer advice on its own-brand bath and shower products.

This is one cancer initiative I can get behind. There’s a clear call to action, it’s relevant, it’s sensible – and there’s not a pink ribbon nor a bake sale in sight.

The shower check

We’ve been told for years to check our bits and bobs when we’re in the shower. Putting that message on a bottle of shower gel is so simple it’s genius.

I was 43 when I found an unusual lump in my breast. I wasn’t in the shower at the time, but that’s where I prodded at it for the next few weeks while waiting for a doctor’s appointment. And then again while waiting for an appointment at the breast clinic. And again during six months of chemotherapy.

I was, if you look at it in one way, very lucky. My cancer responded to the treatment and, during those all-important shower checks I could feel the lump – which had grown to three times its size while I waited for diagnosis – shrinking. A year later, after 16 rounds of chemotherapy, immunotherapy and a double mastectomy, I was told there was no evidence of disease.

I know that my story is not particularly unusual or special – after all, 400,000 people are told they have cancer each year. The reason I mention it is that it allows me to view Morrisons’ shower gel initiative through a different lens.

Cancer campaigns are everywhere. Wear pink. Run a 5k. Bake cakes. Watch a comedy special.

Some of them do brilliant work, of course. But others feel less well thought through or worse, drift into something more uncomfortable, as though the cause itself is being used to drive sales.

Even at its best, ‘pink ribbon marketing’ can be divisive. Yes, it has raised awareness and millions for research. But it can also oversimplify the reality of cancer and, at its worst, tip into a kind of toxic positivity. Ask anyone wearing a wig in the height of summer whether they need reminding that cancer research matters. (Actually, don’t.)

Practical, private and actionable

That’s why Morrisons’ approach feels so different.

There’s no merchandising gimmick or tenuous product tie-in. Just a well-placed, genuinely useful nudge at exactly the right moment: when people are already showering, already alone, and most likely to check their bodies.

It’s practical. It’s private. And crucially, it’s actionable.

We’ve seen glimpses of this type of public health initiative before. Morrisons has previously added NHS guidance to its underwear labels, while Asda, M&S, Ocado and Andrex (among others) have all backed Bowel Cancer UK’s #GetOnARoll campaign by displaying symptoms on toilet roll packaging.

Earlier this year, Boots began flagging lung cancer warning signs on over-the-counter medicine shelves and is now exploring how loyalty card data around what meds people are buying might help spot early warning signs.

All of these approaches are useful, but also easy to forget about, or ignore.

This feels like a step-change.

Morrisons’ bath and shower range carries messages such as “Be body aware” and “Know the signs of cancer”. It encourages people to get to know what’s normal for them and contact their GP quickly if something doesn’t feel right.

Early detection saves lives – particularly for cancers such as breast and testicular, where spotting changes early can make all the difference. This doesn’t just raise awareness: it tells people what to do and when to do it.

So, well done Morrisons. This is a genuinely groundbreaking retail initiative – one which will, very likely, save lives.

Topics