Pregnant Man ("Would you be more careful if it was you that got pregnant?")
Health Education Council (UK)1970
Pregnant Man ("Would you be more careful if it was you that got pregnant?") is a 1970 poster for Health Education Council, created by Cramer Saatchi, London.
Why it works
A man, hand resting on a heavily pregnant belly, and a question aimed squarely at his half of the population. The Health Education Council wanted men to share responsibility for contraception, and the young agency Cramer Saatchi answered with a role reversal: art director Bill Atherton asked "why not have a pregnant man?", Jeremy Sinclair wrote the line and Alan Brooking took the photograph. Many people found it shocking, even offensive, because contraception was rarely discussed in public and the image upends masculinity, but those shock tactics are exactly what made men look. It is studied as a masterclass in empathy by inversion, one absurd picture doing the work of a leaflet's worth of argument about free contraception and advice. The V&A calls it a famous example of the power of advertising that has entered British popular iconography; it is held by the V&A and the Science Museum Group, and Saatchi & Saatchi revived it in 2022 for the US abortion debate.
Techniques
- Visual metaphor A man resting his hand on a heavily pregnant belly reverses the roles, building empathy through one absurd picture rather than pages of argument.
- Shock and provocation A heavily pregnant man is an image many find shocking, which is exactly what makes men stop and look.
- Purpose and cause A public health body uses role reversal to urge men to share responsibility for contraception.
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